DAMAE Medical receives €2.4 million in funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme to revolutionize skin cancer diagnosis

September 2019

DAMAE Medical

Project OCTAV is designed to capture in situ images of the skin layers with a cellular resolution. It is used in conjunction with dermoscopy to provide more accurate diagnosis, leading to fewer biopsies of benign lesions and earlier detection of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. It may also guide the surgery to provide more accurate presurgical margins, preventing unnecessarily large scars and reducing the risk of recurrence.

Correlatively, DAMAE is developing a full software solution, based on a data storage cloud-platform, a computer-aided software designed to assist dermatologists with OCTAV image interpretation, as well as telepathology and patient services. The imaging device will initially be used by clinicians in academic centers. Implementation of the software solution will enable its adoption by a much larger market, consisting of private practices dermatologists. The approach will contribute to the development of skin cancer risk patient awareness, while changing the current paradigm through a timely, performant, and non-invasive approach, and releasing the financial burden on the healthcare system.

After a feasibility phase, covered by the SME Instrument Phase 1, successfully completed, DAMAE has developed and CE-marked a clinical LC-OCT device, which is being used within clinical trials throughout Europe, to validate the accuracy of LC-OCT diagnostics in onco-dermatology. Thanks to this H2020 funding, the company plans to scale-up the solution through industrialization and market access activities, implement its production and launch the product on the market. This project OCTAV has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under approval number n° 850006.