The deal will use the Helomics D-CHIP platform to develop new approaches for personalized cancer diagnosis and care.
MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 01, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skyline Medical (NASDAQ:SKLN) (“Skyline” or “the Company”), producer of the FDA-approved STREAMWAY® System for automated, direct-to-drain medical fluid disposal, and Helomics Corporation (Pittsburgh, PA) have announced a strategic collaboration to use the Helomics D-CHIP™ platform to develop new approaches for personalized cancer diagnosis and care.
Helomics has amassed large quantities of data on patients with cancer as part of its ChemoFx® precision cancer diagnostic. This rich “big-data” repository contains the drug response profiles of over 149,000 patient tumors and their molecular, genomic, biochemical and histopathology data coupled to de-identified patient demographics. D-CHIP uses a proprietary AI-powered bioinformatics engine to uncover actionable insights from this data to aid disease diagnosis, develop new diagnostics and therapies, perform better clinical trials and inform drug repurposing programs.
Furthermore, as one of the only diagnostic companies to be part of the UK’s 100,000 Genome Project GENE consortium, Helomics has been working closely together with other Pharma companies, researchers and the UK NHS (National Health Service), providing a unique perspective on how best to use patient whole genome sequence data to look for new diagnostic biomarkers for cancer.
“The insights gained from this research, the first phase of which was completed in July 2017, are helping to inform the next phase of development of our D-CHIP platform, which will associate whole genome data with Helomics tumor profile and drug sensitivity data to provide a unique resource for the discovery of new biomarkers for improved diagnostics that, in turn, will power personalized cancer treatments,” commented Gerald Vardzel, President & CEO of Helomics.
“Skyline Medical is building a more diversified business,” said Dr. Carl Schwartz. “And the Helomics collaboration is one more step along our path, helping patients, oncologists and pathologists to do a patient personalized medicine’s approach using AI and big data. We are very excited about this opportunity for Skyline and its shareholders,” concluded Dr. Schwartz.
For more information on the 100,000 Genomes Project visit: https://www.genomicsengland.co.uk/working-with-industry/gene-consortium
About Skyline Medical
Skyline Medical produces a fully automated, patented, FDA-cleared waste fluid disposal system that virtually eliminates staff exposure to blood, irrigation fluid and other potentially infectious fluids found in the healthcare environment. Antiquated manual fluid handling methods that require hand carrying and emptying filled fluid canisters present an exposure risk and potential liability. Skyline Medical’s STREAMWAY System fully automates the collection, measurement and disposal of waste fluids and is designed to: 1) reduce overhead costs to hospitals and surgical centers; 2) improve compliance with OSHA and other regulatory agency safety guidelines; 3) improve efficiency in the operating room, and radiology and endoscopy departments, thereby leading to greater profitability; and 4) provide greater environmental stewardship by helping to eliminate the approximately 50 million potentially disease-infected canisters that go into landfills each year in the U.S. For additional information, please visit www.skylinemedical.com.
About Helomics Corporation
Helomics® is a precision diagnostic company and integrated clinical contract research organization whose mission is to improve patient care by partnering with pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and academic organizations to bring innovative clinical products and technologies to the marketplace. In addition to our proprietary precision diagnostics for oncology, Helomics offers boutique CRO services that leverage our patient-derived tumor models, coupled to a wide range of multi-omics assays (genomics, proteomics and biochemical), and a proprietary bioinformatics platform (D-CHIP) to provide a tailored solution to our client’s specific needs.
Helomics® is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where the company maintains state-of-the-art, CLIA-certified, clinical and research laboratories.
For more information, please visit: www.Helomics.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain of the matters discussed in this announcement contain forward-looking statements that involve material risks to and uncertainties in the Company’s business that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements made herein. Such risks and uncertainties include , risks related to our proposed merger with CytoBioscience, including the fact that we may not complete the merger; we do not have complete information about CytoBioscience, including audited financial statements; the combined company will not be able to continue operating without additional financing; possible failure to realize anticipated benefits of the merger; costs associated with the merger may be higher than expected; the merger may result in disruption of the Company’s and CytoBioscience’s existing businesses, distraction of management and diversion of resources; delay in completion of the merger may significantly reduce the expected benefits; and the market price of the Company’s common stock may decline as a result of the merger. Other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company include, among other things, current negative operating cash flows and a need for additional funding to finance our operating plan; the terms of any further financing, which may be highly dilutive and may include onerous terms; unexpected costs and operating deficits, and lower than expected sales and revenues; uncertain willingness and ability of customers to adopt new technologies and other factors that may affect further market acceptance, if our product is not accepted by our potential customers, it is unlikely that we will ever become profitable; adverse economic conditions; adverse results of any legal proceedings; the volatility of our operating results and financial condition; inability to attract or retain qualified senior management personnel, including sales and marketing personnel; our ability to establish and maintain the proprietary nature of our technology through the patent process, as well as our ability to possibly license from others patents and patent applications necessary to develop products; the Company’s ability to implement its long range business plan for various applications of its technology; the Company’s ability to enter into agreements with any necessary marketing and/or distribution partners and with any strategic or joint venture partners; the impact of competition, the obtaining and maintenance of any necessary regulatory clearances applicable to applications of the Company’s technology; and management of growth and other risks and uncertainties that may be detailed from time to time in the Company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities and does not purport to be an analysis of the Company’s financial position. See the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and subsequent reports and other filings at www.sec.gov.
Contacts:
Skyline Medical
Carl Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer
(651) 389-4800
cschwartz@skylinemedical.com
Investors
KCSA Strategic Communications
Elizabeth Barker
(212) 896-1203
skln@kcsa.com
