The Entrepreneur
Cody Simmons, 36
CEO and co-founder
DermaSensor, Miami
One of every five Americans will develop skin cancer by age 70. While it’s good news that most skin cancer is treatable and survivable if diagnosed early, 92% of Americans don’t get regular screenings.
That’s the makings of a major public health issue, and it’s why Florida health care executive Cody Simmons and his company, Miami-based DermaSensor, are so passionate about doing their part to change that.
It’s personal too: Simmons’ mother and aunt are survivors of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.
Simmons grew up in Gainesville, Florida, the state with the second highest instances of melanoma after California. He dabbled in building startups at Brown University in Providence, R.I., where he earned a bachelor’s in entrepreneurship and economics and a master’s in bioengineering that included research at Stanford. His early working years would take him to Silicon Valley for management roles at biotech behemoth Genentech as well as Verana Health, where he helped launch two medical devices.
At age 27, Simmons was introduced to Maurice R. Ferré of Miami, a serial health care entrepreneur who’s passionate about this public health challenge involving skin cancer. In 2016, Ferré invited Simmons to lead a Miami-based startup named DermaSensor that was developing a device that primary care physicians could use to evaluate the risk of skin cancer. If successful, it would put far more medical professionals on the front lines of defense when patients raise concerns about a suspicious looking mole or lesion.
Simmons’ mentors urged him to seize the opportunity for his long-term growth but also because it aligned perfectly with his public health interests. “The reality is only 8% of Americans at risk for skin cancer are treated for skin cancer … and already the 11,000 dermatologists are overwhelmed. In many parts of the country, it’s a six-month wait time,” Simmons says. “It’s been a longstanding unmet need in health care.”
Back then, Ferré and a small team were working with researchers at Boston University who developed the technology and built a prototype the size of a microwave. Simmons’ role was to oversee further development — miniaturizing the device to one that doctors could easily hold in their hand, and taking that device through the FDA process and to market. “As Maurice told me at the time, ‘let’s turn this research project into a company,’” Simmons says. Before long, Simmons was moving to Miami.
The miniaturization, which had been estimated would take about a year, ended up taking three — and product development delays took their toll on the budget. Then came multiple clinical studies and the FDA clearance process. “People say health care is hard, and hardware is hard, and we were doing both,” Simmons says.
Fortunately, those clinical studies yielded strong results. The device correctly detected skin cancers 96% of the time, and in 2021, the FDA designated DermaSensor as a “breakthrough device,” a status for products addressing life-threatening diseases that ensures an expedited FDA review. Meanwhile, the startup was cleared to sell devices in Australia and the European Union. DermaSensor also raised serious venture capital, including $11.5 million and $10 million in 2020 and 2022, respectively.
What kept the team going through the darkest days of the journey? The belief in the technology was part of it. The founding team didn’t want to come to market with a lackluster product, but one that “would really make an impact on the world.” In addition, Simmons says, “pretty much every primary care doctor and teaching hospital we talked to said, ‘oh my god, a product that tells me the likelihood of skin cancer would be incredible. I would use it all the time.’ That kept us chugging along.”
The FDA authorization “marks a pivotal moment in digital health innovation” and “reinforces the feasibility of digital health technologies to bridge gaps in access and expertise in medical practice,” the British scientific journal Nature declared.
DermaSensor began selling the devices in the U.S. in May, and now has dozens of customers, from physicians’ groups to large health care systems, including BayCare. DermaSensor employs 13 plus 25 contractors and expects to double the team over the next year.
Over the next few years, “we’re confident in achieving thousands of devices out there with tens of thousands of physicians using it,” Simmons says. What’s more, the team is already planning for the next-generation product, which could include optimizing algorithms focused on, for example, melanoma. What also excites Simmons is the prospect of the product being used by even more health care providers.
Already the device, which was originally aimed at primary care physicians, can be used by any doctor who is not an expert in skin cancer — that is, approximately a million physicians in the U.S. But Simmons believes later products might also be used by nurse practitioners and physician assistants, greatly expanding the number of care providers able to assess the risk of skin cancer.
How it Works
DermaSensor, the first automated device for detecting all three common types of skin cancer, uses AI-powered spectroscopy and algorithms to non-invasively scan skin lesions to detect malignant properties at a cellular and subcellular level. Within seconds, the handheld device provides a test result indicating the level of skin cancer risk.
Development Milestones
Earlier this year, DermaSensor received FDA clearance. That has allowed commercialization to start in the U.S., including creating sales and marketing teams and building up inventory. The device took eight years — even longer for the DermaSensor Chairman Ferré, other early investors and the Boston University researchers — and cost $25 million to develop.
Skin Cancer Risk
- More Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer each year than all other cancers combined.
- Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer, with about 3.6 million cases diagnosed in the U.S. annually.
- Having five or more sunburns doubles your risk for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. More than 650 people in Florida die from it each year.
- When detected early, the five-year survival rate for melanoma is 99%.
Sources: Skin Cancer Foundation, American Cancer Society