3M non-melanoma and 132,000 melanoma skin cancers occur globally each year, of which about 65% to 95% of cases are related to sun exposure and a history of sunburn and, therefore, preventable. Patients with malignant melanoma have a life expectancy of 24 months and current treatment costs are about 1.5M€ per patient. With melanoma increasing worldwide at a rate of 3% per year, the cost of treatment will become unaffordable. The good news are that about 85% of the 3M non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to UV radiation from the sun, so they could be prevented. Sunscreens are an important aspect of photoprotection and skin cancer prevention as they can block/absorb a fraction of the solar irradiance impinging on the skin. However, they present several drawbacks
- Poor efficiency,
- Instability,
- Adverse events
- Large production required, non-ecosustainable productions with large amounts of waste material
- Non-environmentally friendl
Roka Furadada (Roka), a spin-off from successful research carried out by Ferrer International, has developed SMART UV, ultraviolet filters that are activated by the sun’s radiation. They are able to respond to high doses of radiation while maintaining protection for up to 6 times longer than competitors . At Roka we aim to develop and market new molecules with therapeutic activity to prevent and treat skin diseases associated with sun exposure. As of today, we have produced the first intelligent ultraviolet radiation (UV) filters, SMART UV. Our next and ambitious objective is to upgrade and produce our filters on a large-scale and to fully develop our first cosmetic product, a sunscreen.
