GYEONGGI-DO

Skylabs: Pursuing the Dream of Becoming the “the Lord of the Rings” in the Medical Device Industry

 

 

CEO, Jack Lee

 

 

Please give us a brief introduction of Skylabs.

「Biosignal big data, the core of future health care」

Skylabs, established in 2015, is an innovative medical device startup that provides ring-shaped cardiac monitoring medical devices and relevant services and platforms for chronic disease patients based on big data. In 2017, we won the “Grants4Apps Accelerator” program launched by German global pharmaceutical company,Bayer, to promote digital innovation in the health care sector and support startups around the world, and thus, we attracted investment from Bayer headquarters. We were also selected as a Promising Startup in the 2019 Global Entrepreneur Program (GEP) of the UK Department for International Trade (DIT). Based on our innovative technology, we have attracted investment from various venture capitals. We were also chosen as a Technology Pioneer at the 2019 World Economic Forum. Since we obtained approval for medical device manufacturing from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea in May 2020 and the European CE MDD (Medical Devices Directive) certification in August 2020, we have been actively exporting our products and services to major European countries, such as Germany and UK, with a goal of being listed on the KOSDAQ by 2023.

 

 

 Could you briefly explain the features of the wearable heart monitoring medical device?

「Innovative solution for transitioning from hospital-centered treatment to patient-centered treatment」

 CART-1 is a medical device consisting of a Holter electrocardiograph monitor that records ECG graphs and pulse rates based on ECG signals and a sphygmograph that monitors PPG graphs, pulses, and irregular pulse waves in patients with atrial fibrillation based on PPG signals. It automatically collects the user’s PPG signals and can also collect ECG and PPG signals in the self-check mode on the CART app. The automatically collected data can be checked in real time on the Statistics page, with irregular pulse wave rate and average pulse rate information analyzed on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Results collected in the self-check mode are presented by month or year on the Records page and irregular pulse wave occurrence monitoring results and PPG/ECG graphs can also be viewed in corresponding pages. Unlike Holter-type devices, CART-1 is ring-shaped (weighing about 4g) and can be worn easily and comfortably. Its greatest advantage is that it continuously detects heart signals through the photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor on the finger, from which these signals can be measured most accurately. In fact, in a 2018 clinical study conducted by Seoul National University Hospital on patients with atrial fibrillation, the sensitivity of this device for detecting atrial fibrillation was 99% and the specificity for identifying normal conditions was 94.3%. These clinical data verified the performance of CART-1 scientifically.

 

 

CART-I(Cardio Tracker)

 

 

 What are your overseas market expansion plans and future business vision or blueprint?

「Second leap forward by winning the European market and advancing into the US」

 As we have launched sales both in Korea and European countries including Germany and the UK in the second half of 2020, we are expecting to achieve tangible results in these markets. In addition, we plan to enter the US market by obtaining the US FDA certification this year. Discussions on license agreements are underway for sales in CIS regions including Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Russia, and we are preparing for the establishment of a global supply chain by increasing marketing personnel. Based on these accomplishments, we are aiming for 100 billion won in sales this year, expecting a growth rate of 50 to 100 percent every year. We will make greater efforts to verify the effectiveness of our products through continuous clinical research and demonstration projects and to provide efficient and safe solutions that can contribute to accelerating the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will do our utmost to become a company that can contribute to human health by analyzing and predicting diseases using biosignal big data.