Outer Biosciences has developed a platform that keeps donated human skin alive for more than a month and combines the resulting biological data with machine learning to discover new skincare ingredients. The four-year-old startup says its system has reduced the time between identifying promising compounds from roughly 18 months in its early work to about six weeks today.
The company was founded in 2022 by CEO Michael Polansky, chief scientist Kyung-Jin Jang, CTO Chris Hinojosa, and chief business officer Stanley King. It has raised about $23 million from investors including Wing Ventures, Initialized, and Polansky’s Hawktail.
Living Skin Extends Experiments Beyond a Few Days
Most laboratory human skin remains usable for only several days, limiting studies of processes such as collagen remodeling, pigmentation changes, inflammation, and barrier repair. Outer Biosciences’ technology can keep full-thickness skin viable for 30 days or longer while preserving much of its original epidermal, stromal, and immune-associated biology.
The startup obtains skin that would otherwise be discarded after surgery through tissue organizations including the National Disease Research Interchange and Cooperative Human Tissue Network. Polansky said samples arrive de-identified and are provided under institutional review board oversight and donor-consent procedures.
Researchers can then expose the tissue to controlled conditions and track biological changes over weeks. In one example, Outer Biosciences can induce UVB damage and observe the resulting stress, inflammation, and recovery processes over time.
AI Predictions Feed Back Into Tissue Experiments
Outer Biosciences combines the tissue system with machine-learning models trained partly on biological data generated by its own experiments. Its AI platform predicts which compounds may affect particular skin functions before researchers test the most promising candidates.
The results are then fed back into the models, whether the predictions were correct or not. Outer Biosciences says its system can computationally screen hundreds of millions of compounds while collecting molecular, biochemical, and tissue-level measurements from physical experiments.
Before adding machine learning, the company searched scientific literature and worked with the National Cancer Institute on compounds obtained from unusual environments. That process produced a small number of leads over about 18 months.
Polansky said the company now generates a new candidate roughly every six weeks. Six leads are currently active, with several dozen additional hits identified, and four of the six active candidates appear likely to reach commercialization.
The Company Plans to Sell Ingredients Rather Than Consumer Products
Outer Biosciences is currently focused on cosmetic ingredients rather than developing its own skincare brand. Its bioactive discovery process takes compounds through prediction, automated screening, human-tissue validation, safety work, manufacturing scale-up, and commercial development.
The company plans to license or sell completed ingredients to beauty and pharmaceutical companies, which can then formulate them into products such as creams or serums.
Outer Biosciences is also generating revenue through research collaborations. Its partners include a pharmaceutical company studying why some cancer drugs cause severe skin rashes and beauty companies testing compounds and product claims against the startup’s tissue platform.
The company employs 19 people, with most based near Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its next hiring priority is a product-development team that can handle manufacturing scale-up, formulation, supply chains, and safety testing as more compounds move toward commercialization.
Featured image credits: Gagapedia
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