I-Derm develops a new nonsteroidal topical treatment for inflammatory skin diseases based on a novel mechanism of action. This mechanism directly targets cutaneous elements rather than the immune system and is therefore uniquely function only on the skin. This novel treatment will be the first nonsteroidal topical treatments for psoriasis.
Technology
Most psoriasis patients are categorized as suffering from mild to moderate disease and are treated mainly with topical corticosteroids. However, long-term use of topical corticosteroids carries risk of significant and potentially irreversible side effects.
The company’s product is based on a novel mechanism of action. The molecule, CPT-11, up-regulates SAMD9, which in turn down-regulates EGR1, a critical regulator of inflammatory responses of the skin, in a dose dependent manner.
The product will be designed: a) as a first-line, local-use topical product, with limited skin penetration (as opposed to current second line biologics that are administered I.V. and work systemically); b) based on a small molecule (rather than a large complex molecule, e.g., mAb); c) in a manner that does not suppresses the immune system or causes related severe side effects (compared to biologics and corticosteroids);
It is therefore expected to meet the need for a new class of non-steroidal topical therapy, with at least as equal efficacy to existing corticosteroids and with better safety and tolerability profile for an effective treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis (and other immune-related skin disorders) in a cost-effective manner.
Market:
Psoriasis affects about 3.0% of the US adult population, representing > 7.5 million adults in the US alone.
Team:
Dr. Sharon Navon CEO. Sharon has a Ph.D. at Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the faculty of chemistry at the Technion. She has more than 8 years of experience in planning and initiating projects, building & leading large (~30) pharmaceutical R&D teams, including development of processes and analytical packages for GMP production.
Prof. Eli Sprecher, co-founder, scientific and clinical advisor, Chairman of the Division of Dermatology at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. MD and PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia. Section editor for the British Journal of Dermatology, associate editor for the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and associate editor for the American Journal of Human Genetics. Board member of ESDR, The European Society for Dermatological Sciences and member of the National Israeli Academy for Medical Sciences. Has published over 300 peer-reviewed publications and has received numerous national and international awards.
Dr. Ofer Sarig, co-Founder and scientific advisor, Head of Laboratory of Molecular Dermatology as part of the Division of Dermatology at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. Received his MSc and PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Has published over 70 peer-reviewed publications and presented more than 20 works in scientific meetings
Dr. Liora Sklair-Tavron, Technology consultant. Dr Tavron is an experienced executive with twenty years of diverse experience in leadership roles from global pharma (Teva, R&D, where she worked on the development of a psoriasis treatment), biopharmaceutical startup companies, technological accelerators, and medical device startup including: Leading innovative R&D projects in large pharma and startup.