DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE PRESCRIPTION AND NON-PRESCRIPTION TOPICAL PRODUCTS
Disruptive Innovation
in Life Sciences
What We Do
PHD Biosciences (PHD) is a privately held clinical stage product discovery and development company that is focused on the development of prescription and non-prescription topical products.
Clinical Stage Topical Prescription Drug Programs in Clinical Trials
Awards Won Since 2011
Million in Non-Dilutive Funding
Our Team
Our team comprises experts with experience in drug development, operations, business development, regulatory affairs, planning, finance, and drug product registration.
Steven Isaacman, Ph.D.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Dr. Isaacman founded PHD Biosciences in 2008, and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) where he manages the preclinical and clinical therapeutic programs. He is an expert in the development and commercialization of topical and systemic drug products; has been responsible for the invention and management of collaborative efforts that have led to the commercialization of several globally distributed drug- and non-drug products; and since 2011 has been the Principal Investigator on 19 of PHD’s grants. He is also a Visiting Scholar in the Chemistry department at New York University. He received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from New York University, and M.S. and B.S. degrees in chemistry and biochemistry from Stony Brook University.
Andrew Mahon, Ph.D.
CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER
Dr. Mahon is the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at PHD Biosciences. With over 16 years of experience in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology, he manages drug development and basic research within the company. He is directly involved in experimental design, and implementation and works closely with the CEO to manage corporate strategy. He has also been instrumental in raising over $10M in funding to accelerate the translational development of the preclinical and clinical stage assets that constitute the company’s pipeline.
Michael Isaacman, Ph.D.
DIRECTOR R&D
Dr. Michael J. Isaacman is Director of Research at PHD Biosciences, and manages programs to develop novel topical products for drug and non-drug applications. He is a polymer chemist by training, and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara where his research focused on the synthesis and self-assembling dynamics of silicone-based amphiphilic block co-polymers. Michael is an expert in polymer chemistry and has pioneered novel methodologies for the design & fabrication of moieties for use in drug delivery and over-the-counter drug products Michael has 12 years of experience in the fields of natural product synthesis, polymer synthesis, nanoparticle self-assembly, and topical drug delivery.
Michael Szarek, Ph.D.
REGULATORY AFFAIRS
Eric Rowinsky, M.D.
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER
Scott Spector
CLINICAL OPERATIONS
Recent News
May 2021– PHD Biosciences wins a Phase I SBIR from the National Cancer Institute to further the clinical development of a first in class, biocompatible and environmentally friendly long-wear sunscreen. The sunscreen is designed to be water resistant for 80 minutes and satisfy emerging / existing environmental regulations in places like Hawaii and Key West, FL.
September 2020 – PHD Biosciences has acquired the exclusive global rights from Washington University (WU; St. Louis, MO) to develop a topical immunotherapy to treat actinic keratoses (AK) and prevent skin cancer. The topical immunotherapy prescription drug product being developed by PHD uses a combination of calcipotriol (CPO) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) to activate CD4+ T cell immunity to clear AKs and block cancer development and recurrence. The ongoing work at PHD builds upon a successfully completed randomized double-blind study in 130 AK patients and an unpublished open-label study which demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the same combination of CPO and 5-FU to clear AKs and prevent skin cancer for 3 years.1,2 The exceptional results are also supported by clinical studies from independent groups.3-5
- Cunningham TJ, Tabacchi M, Eliane JP, et al. Randomized trial of calcipotriol combined with 5-fluorouracil for skin cancer precursor immunotherapy. J Clin Invest. 2017;127(1):106-116.
- Rosenberg AR, Tabacchi M, Ngo KH, et al. Skin cancer precursor immunotherapy for squamous cell carcinoma prevention. JCI Insight. 2019;4(6).
- Moore AY. Short-contact topical calcipotriene foam and fluorouracil 1% cream after cryotherapy for actinic keratosis. 2019.2.
- Moore AY Nguyen M Moore S. Cyclic calcipotriene 0.005% foam and 1% 5-fluorouracil cream after cryotherapy in treatment of hyperkeratotic actinic keratosis: A retrospective study. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020.3.
- Teresa Sarandeses Diez M Caral Vanaclocha I Lemaitre S Gónzález Candial M. Topical treatment with calcipotriol combined with 5-fluorouracil for premalignant periocular lesions. J Fr Ophtalmol. 202144(1):e27-e29.
July 2020 – PHD Biosciences has won a $2 million Direct Phase II SBIR award from the National Cancer Institute to accelerate the translational development of new types of sunscreens, designed to mitigate the risk of skin cancer.