topical-therapeutics
(3)
Karl Beutner Spent 350 Trials Learning What Biotech Founders Usually Learn Too Late
Before he became a biotech founder, Karl Beutner built a practice, ran more than 350 clinical trials and helped guide over a dozen products to approval. DermBiont is the latest chapter in a career spent turning small, testable decisions into durable progress.
DermBiont, Inc.
DermBiont is a Boston-based, clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class targeted topical therapeutics that treat the root cause of common skin diseases. Its lead programs are SM-020, a topical AKT kinase inhibitor for seborrheic keratoses, and SM-030, a topical PKC-beta inhibitor for melasma and other hyperpigmentation disorders, with earlier-stage work aimed at basal cell carcinoma and Gorlin syndrome. Founded in 2017 by dermatology-drug veteran Karl Beutner, the company has raised roughly $79M-plus across multiple rounds, including a $35.2M Series B led by Double Point Ventures in 2023.
Novilla Pharmaceuticals
Novilla Pharmaceuticals is a Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech using a proprietary AI drug-delivery platform to redesign how established drugs reach the body. By pairing chemical-thermodynamic machine learning with deep eutectic solvents and ionic liquids, Novilla formulates non-invasive transdermal creams that concentrate a drug at its site of action while minimizing systemic exposure. Its lead candidate, NOV-1776 for gout flares, reported a 212% increase in efficacy over standard of care with under 1% systemic exposure and no GI adverse events in early human trials, positioning the company as a non-addictive alternative in pain care.