Check That Mole – At the Pharmacy: Skinive Launches New Pilot in France

HealthTech startup Skinive has launched a pilot of its Skinive MD app at Pharmacie Notre-Dame in Roquebrune-sur-Argens, in southern France. According to the company, this is the first retail pharmacy in France to test Skinive MD for identifying potentially dangerous skin lesions using AI and digital dermatoscopy.

A pharmacist takes a photo of a mole or other skin lesion with a digital dermatoscope, and Skinive MD then analyzes the image. If the system flags signs that warrant closer attention, the patient is advised to see a doctor or dermatologist. Neither the AI nor the pharmacist makes a diagnosis – the service's job is simply to help determine when someone should get a medical checkup.

About 50 people have taken part in the initial tests so far, with the full pilot expected to include roughly 300 participants. For Skinive, this is a chance to test not just how the technology performs, but a new usage model altogether: can an ordinary pharmacy become an access point for AI skin analysis and an additional channel steering patients toward doctors?

The pilot is also notable in light of Skinive's own trajectory. The startup began as a medical AI product for analyzing skin issues, earned a CE Mark, and poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into its own algorithm – but is now branching out into wellness and beauty as well. Why commercializing medical AI turned out to be harder than the team expected, and where the company is headed next, coming soon on BYGRID.