Portfolio Companies

Skinject Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Medicus Pharma Ltd., is a development stage biotechnology life sciences company focused on commercializing novel treatment for non melanoma skin cancer, especially basal cell carcinoma, using a patented dissolvable doxorubicin-containing microneedle patch array (D-MNA). D-MNA delivers the chemotherapeutic agent transdermally at the site of the lesion to eradicate tumor cells.

The relevant US Patent was granted to University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University in 2018 and are valid through 2040.

The company secured exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights from University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University in April 2016. The company attempts to provide an alternative to an invasive, painful, but effective treatment commonly called Mohs Surgery, by providing an efficacious, painless and easy to administer treatment in an office setting.

Skinject Inc. completed an FDA approved Phase I study in March 2021 for participants with superficial or nodular Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC). In January 2024 a Phase 2 IND clinical protocol has been submitted to the FDA for a randomized, controlled, double-blind, multicenter study. In Q3 2024, the company commenced patient recruitment in six clinical sites across the United States.

Skinject Inc. strategy is primarily focused to:

  • Demonstrate that doxorubicin-containing microneedle arrays (D-MNA) properly applied can penetrate human skin and dissolve to deliver the therapeutic agent to the site of the lesion.
  • Provide evidence that doxorubicin delivered to a basal cell carcinoma (BCC) can activate the calreticulin pathway, producing an immune response and apoptosis of cancer cells.

Medicus acquired Skinject, Inc. in September 2023 through a business combination and concurrent equity financing agreement.

Basal Cell Carcinoma is the most common cancer in the world representing a market size in excess of $20 billion annually. Skinject Inc.aim is to fulfill this un-met need of a non-surgical option and potentially create a market opportunity in excess of $2 Billion annually.

* About Microneedles

Microneedles are micron-sized (<1000 μm in length) and are a rapidly developing method for the transdermal delivery of therapeutic compounds. They function by penetrating the stratum corneum layer of the skin producing a temporary microchannel through which therapeutic agents may be delivered. Drugs delivered via the transdermal route can bypass some of the issues related to oral and systemic delivery, including large swings in pH, extensive enzymatic activity, liver metabolism and toxic side effects.