Galderma: Expansion and record revenue
Galderma currently provides a clear example of the scalability of modern therapeutic dermatology. The group reports predominantly volume-driven revenue growth, prompting management to raise its full-year forecast to 22.5 to 23.5%. The main driver of this momentum is the biologic Nemluvio, approved in 2024, which generated USD 735 million in revenue in the first nine months. This antibody specifically suppresses chronic itching and illustrates the enormous willingness to pay for systemic therapies in the healthcare sector. Galderma is also consistently diversifying its revenue. The company has announced plans to acquire the premium skincare brand ZO Skin Health for USD 1.5 billion to expand its physician-led aesthetics business in a targeted manner. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 or early 2027.
Biofrontera: Challenges in whole-body therapy
Despite significant regulatory progress, Biofrontera’s situation reveals the limits of device-based medicine. In mid-September, the FDA granted specialist approval for its Ameluz gel to treat superficial basal cell carcinoma. On October 8, the company also applied to extend approval for this photodynamic therapy to the entire body, enabling treatment of large areas of sun-damaged skin. The business is growing strongly, but cash is tight. At the end of June, Biofrontera had USD 4.7 million in cash and cash equivalents, while the second quarter still posted a small loss of USD 0.6 million despite 33% revenue growth. Placing irradiation lamps in medical practices and distribution remain resource-intensive, and the company itself points to further funding needs. Clinical progress alone therefore does not yet guarantee a profit in the US healthcare market.
Vidac Pharma: Metabolic approach to precancerous skin lesions
Vidac Pharma is pursuing a fundamentally different approach and is awaiting results from a pivotal trial of its lead candidate, VDA-1102; the company aims to specifically reverse the pathological glucose metabolism of abnormal cells in actinic keratosis. According to the company, healthy skin tissue is to be spared in the process. The active substance prevents the pathological binding of the enzyme hexokinase-2 to mitochondria, thereby reinitiating natural cell death in the affected cells. In a randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled Phase 2b trial involving 39 patients, the final patient visit took place at CentroDerm in Wuppertal on September 9. Vidac had announced in mid-September that it would present the results “in the coming weeks”; they were not yet available at the editorial deadline. The trial focuses on highly proliferative lesions that carry a particularly high risk of progressing to invasive squamous cell carcinoma. If the data confirm efficacy in severe lesions without significant skin irritation, this would be a strong argument for a Phase 3 trial. As conventional topical chemotherapeutic agents regularly cause severe side effects such as ulceration and pain, many patients discontinue treatment prematurely. Vidac Pharma’s onco-metabolic approach is intended to circumvent this problem because, according to the company, it leaves healthy tissue unaffected.
Vidac Pharma: Synergies and strategic expansion
In addition to the direct local treatment of precancerous lesions (precursors to cancer), Vidac Pharma’s metabolic approach also opens up broader technological synergies. As part of its clinical evaluation, the company uses so-called line-field confocal OCT. This precision optical diagnostic technique allows researchers to monitor the reduction in cellular atypia in three dimensions in real time, thus sparing patients frequent surgical biopsies. In parallel, Vidac is developing the preclinical candidate VDA-1275, which is intended to extend the concept to solid tumours. Such extensions illustrate the platform’s potential to progress from dermatology into broader systemic oncology.
Conclusion: Innovation meets risk
Dermatology is developing into a precise field that is attractive to investors. While Galderma already generates billions from high-priced systemic therapeutics, targeted treatments for precancerous skin lesions offer enormous growth potential. If Vidac Pharma’s metabolic approach proves convincing in clinical trials, it could significantly change field therapy for actinic keratosis. Nevertheless, investors should remember that clinical-stage biotech companies are still finding their feet and depend heavily on external capital inflows. As the example of Biofrontera shows, such business models can sometimes entail significant operational hurdles. Shares in research and device companies such as Vidac Pharma and Biofrontera are speculative due to their ongoing capital requirements.
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