Initial Product Development Timeline

We are focused on developing targeted therapies that treat diseases of the skin at their root cause and fulfill the unmet needs of patients living with skin conditions. Our dermatology-focused pipeline includes the following product candidates:

Seborrheic Keratoses

Seborrheic keratoses (SKs) are ​benign clonal tumors of the skin that often appear over the age of thirty-five and are the most frequently diagnosed skin disease by dermatologists.

Over 80 million Americans and approximately a quarter of the global population have SKs, with the most affected areas including the face, chest, and back.

There are currently no patient applied therapies for these tumors. The current standard of care are ablative or destructive surgical procedures, and cryosurgery is the most common.

SM-020 is the first and only highly selective topical treatment that results in natural apoptosis (the natural process of programmed cell death) of SK cells without cytotoxicity to healthy, normal keratinocytes.

Melasma

Skin hyperpigmentation disorders affect between 5% and 30% of the general population and include a number of skin diseases such as melasma, solar lentigos (sun spots), photoinduced hyperpigmentation, and others. Hyperpigmentation is the third most frequently diagnosed skin disease by dermatologists in the US.

Melasma is a common skin problem caused by brown to gray-brown patches on the face. Most people get it on their cheeks, chin, nose bridge, forehead, and above the upper lip. It is more common in women than men. Pregnancy is a common cause of melasma, and it also affects women taking oral contraceptives and hormones.

Skin hyperpigmentation conditions are poorly served by current therapies. Hyrdoquinone, which is toxic to melanocytes and has been banned by the FDA as a both a 4% Rx and 2% OTC monotherapy, remains the most commonly used therapy.

SM-030 is the first and only targeted topical treatment that results in the inhibition of excess melanin production.