Stemson Therapeutics
Stemson Therapeutics is a pre-clinical, privately held cell therapy company developing a novel hair follicle cloning approach using patients' own cells to treat androgenetic alopecia and alopecia areata. Founded in 2018 and based in San Diego, it is led by scientific founders and funded by DCVC Bio, AbbVie, and Fortunis Capital.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersSan Diego, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Stemson Therapeutics does
Stemson Therapeutics is a pre-clinical stage cell therapy company developing a novel hair follicle cloning approach to treat hair loss conditions, with explicit indication targets including androgenetic alopecia and alopecia areata. The company's scientific premise is that current hair-loss treatments only redistribute or slow the loss of existing hair, whereas Stemson aims to generate new hair follicles de novo using the patient's own cells, representing a regenerative-medicine rather than a cosmetic or transplant-based solution.
The platform is anchored by scientific co-founder and CSO Alexey V. Terskikh and CSO Kevin D'Amour, both with stem cell biology expertise. To date the company has raised approximately $22.5M in aggregate funding, comprising a $7.5M seed round in September 2020 led by Fortunis Capital and a $15M Series A in July 2021 led by DCVC Bio with participation from strategic pharma AbbVie and Genoa Ventures. Headcount is reported at 1-10 employees and the company remains privately held with no products commercialized, no pricing model in place, and no distribution or marketing channels established.
The business model is consistent with an early-stage biotech: value creation is expected to occur through eventual clinical development, regulatory milestones, and either out-licensing, partnership with a large pharmaceutical player, or a trade sale, rather than direct product commercialization in the near term. The company targets an addressable patient population of approximately 80 million people in the US alone affected by androgenetic alopecia.
Stemson Therapeutics firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Stemson Therapeutics
- Website
- https://stemsontx.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Stemson Therapeutics is a pre-clinical, privately held cell therapy company developing a novel hair follicle cloning approach using patients' own cells to treat androgenetic alopecia and alopecia areata. Founded in 2018 and based in San Diego, it is led by scientific founders and funded by DCVC Bio, AbbVie, and Fortunis Capital.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Stemson Therapeutics industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Regenerative Medicine
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414)
- SIC
- Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Stem Cell–Based Regenerative Therapies (HLAAAGAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Stem Cell Therapies (MSC/iPSC/HSC-derived) (HLAAABAE)
Keywords
Where Stemson Therapeutics is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Diego
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Stemson Therapeutics business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations
Stemson Therapeutics product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Stemson Therapeutics is a pre-clinical stage cell therapy company developing a novel hair follicle cloning approach using cell therapy and regenerative medicine to treat hair loss conditions including androgenetic alopecia and alopecia areata. The company uses the patient's own cells to generate new hair follicles, aiming to provide a biological cure for baldness rather than relying on temporary solutions such as wigs, topicals, or transplanting existing hair. The therapy is currently in clinical development and has not yet been commercialized.
Product overview
No product information available for Stemson Therapeutics in the provided source data. Stemson Therapeutics is referenced in news articles as a biotech firm developing hair follicle cloning technology through cellular biology and regenerative medicine approaches, with ongoing clinical trials, but no specific product details, names, or service offerings are documented in the available sources.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Companies that use Stemson Therapeutics
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles1 record
Stemson Therapeutics technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Stemson Therapeutics partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves3 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Stemson Therapeutics competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Stemmatters: Portugal-based biotech developing cell-based regenerative therapies for hair loss. Directly comparable to Stemson: pre-clinical cell therapy modality targeting androgenetic alopecia with similar scientific premise of follicle regeneration.
- dNovo: Biotech founded out of Stanford that engineers cells to produce hair growth factors, applying cell and gene therapy approaches to hair loss. Closely comparable modality (cell-based hair regeneration) and stage profile.
- Organ Technologies: Japan-based regenerative medicine company that has pioneered hair follicle regeneration using cell-based approaches in collaboration with RIKEN. Closest Asia-Pacific analog pursuing the same cell-therapy-for-hair-loss thesis as Stemson.
Broad incumbents
- AbbVie: Global biopharma with aesthetics/dermatology franchise (via Allergan) marketing hair-related products including Latisse. Already a Stemson investor (Series A 2021), giving it both strategic and financial overlap with the hair-loss treatment space.
- Eli Lilly: Markets Olumiant (baricitinib), a JAK inhibitor approved for severe alopecia areata. Competes for the same alopecia patient population Stemson is targeting, representing the current standard-of-care benchmark for advanced medical hair loss treatment.
- Pfizer: Markets Litfulo (ritlecitinib), a JAK inhibitor approved for severe alopecia areata, plus legacy hair-loss product lines. A broad incumbent competing in Stemson's target indication via an alternative (small-molecule) modality.
- Johnson & Johnson: Large incumbent in dermatology and medical aesthetics with active R&D in hair loss. Represents the kind of strategic acquirer/partner that a successful Stemson clinical readout could attract.
- Bristol Myers Squibb: Major cell therapy incumbent (Breyanzi, Abecma) with deep autologous CAR-T manufacturing infrastructure and clinical-translation know-how relevant to scaling an autologous iPSC-based therapy like Stemson's.
Emerging players
- Aclaris Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing JAK inhibitors and other therapies for alopecia areata and androgenetic alopecia. Emerging competitor focused on a specific use case that overlaps directly with Stemson's target indications.
- ExoCoBio: South Korea-based biotech developing exosome-based regenerative treatments, including for hair loss. Represents an emerging, lower-cost alternative modality that could compete with cell therapy on accessibility and price.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Stemson Therapeutics social profiles
Digital presenceStemson Therapeutics financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Stemson Therapeutics leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Stemson Therapeutics funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors4 records
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Stemson Therapeutics M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Stemson Therapeutics
What does Stemson Therapeutics do?
Stemson Therapeutics is a pre-clinical stage cell therapy company developing a novel hair follicle cloning approach using cell therapy and regenerative medicine to treat hair loss conditions including androgenetic alopecia and alopecia areata. The company uses the patient's own cells to generate new hair follicles, aiming to provide a biological cure for baldness rather than relying on temporary solutions such as wigs, topicals, or transplanting existing hair. The therapy is currently in clinical development and has not yet been commercialized.
Is Stemson Therapeutics a public or private company?
Stemson Therapeutics is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Stemson Therapeutics founded?
Stemson Therapeutics was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Stemson Therapeutics based?
Stemson Therapeutics is headquartered in San Diego, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Stemson Therapeutics's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Stemmatters, dNovo and Organ Technologies. Broad incumbents are AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb. Emerging players are Aclaris Therapeutics and ExoCoBio.
Does Stemson Therapeutics have an API?
No public API is recorded for Stemson Therapeutics.
What industry is Stemson Therapeutics in?
Stemson Therapeutics's product category is Regenerative Medicine. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAAAGAA, Stem Cell–Based Regenerative Therapies, with a secondary code of HLAAABAE, Stem Cell Therapies (MSC/iPSC/HSC-derived). Its NAICS code is 541714 and its SIC code is 2836.