A unified directory of 259 players across South Korea, the United States, China, Japan, Europe, and other regions spanning beauty (cosmetics), medical aesthetics (toxins, fillers, devices, clinics), biotech & pharma (obesity, dermatology, national champions), regenerative medicine & longevity, AI biotech, and AI beauty tech. Filter and sort by scale (revenue, valuation, market cap), region, domain, value-chain position (14 categories), era (Legacy ↔ Emerging), AI adoption, product line, revenue model, and ownership structure. Every figure carries a verification tag (✔ official filing / primary source · △ press / estimate / research · ✘ disproved).
"Beauty + Biotechnology" is not a single industry but an overlap of five domains (Beauty · Medical Aesthetics · Biotech · Pharma · Longevity · Regenerative · AI). We first filter by Domain and then break players down into 14 Value-Chain Positions (Categories). Money flows differently at each position — conglomerates rely on wholesale and duty-free, emerging brands use DTC + ODM, injectables and energy devices run on recurring consumables, biotech relies on prescription drugs and out-licensing, and longevity and AI run on venture capital. Era (Legacy ~1990 → Growth Era 1990~2010 → Emerging · DTC / Emerging Biotech 2010~ → AI-Native 2018~) is separated to compare incumbents against insurgents. Because legacy giants actively acquire emerging brands (Aesop, COSRX, Medik8, Rhode), you must look at founding era alongside current ownership. AI is tracked on two levels — companies where AI is the core business sit in Categories ⑫ and ⑬, while traditional players adopting AI are filtered via "AI Adoption = AI Adopted". Since AI-native companies rarely have meaningful revenue, they are ranked by valuation.
| # | Name | Region | Category | Tier | Key Metric | Revenue | Profit · Market Cap | Verif. |
|---|
Click any row to expand ownership, founding year, revenue model, financials, recent trends, and sources. The 39 entries marked Tier "?" have no verified headline figure in public filings. Tiers are rough approximations based on a single headline metric. Revenue (money earned) and valuation / cumulative funding (money raised) are fundamentally different.
| Scope | Figure | Definition · Period | Verif. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global beauty 4 core categories (2024) | ~$450B → $590B by 2030 (5% CAGR) | McKinsey State of Beauty 2025 · color cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, haircare · retail value · based on Euromonitor data | △ |
| Global beauty adjacent categories (2024) | ~$820B additional | Same McKinsey report · aesthetic injectables, men's grooming, suncare, bodycare, beauty supplements, spa services — do not conflate with the 4 core categories | △ |
| China cosmetics retail sales (2025 · NBS) | RMB 465.3B (+5.1%) | 国家统计局 限额以上单位 化妆品类 零售额 · above-designated-size enterprises only · via 新华网 reprint | △ |
| China cosmetics all-channel GMV (2025 · Association) | RMB 1,104.2B (+2.83%) | 中国香料香精化妆品工业协会 all-channel transaction volume · different definition from NBS retail sales | △ |
| South Korea cosmetics exports (2025) | $11.4B (+12.3%) | MFDS announcement (based on Korea Customs Service export data) · all-time high · trade surplus tops $10B for the first time · world's #2 exporter (MFDS phrasing) | △ |
| South Korea cosmetics exports (Jan–Sep 2026) | $11.1B (+31.1%) | Press reports on MFDS 2026-10-02 release · 1H reached $7.0B (+27%) · US #1 at $1.45B (20.7% share) | △ |
| European cosmetics market (2024) | ~€104B (retail value) | Cosmetics Europe annual report | △ |
| Japanese cosmetics market (2024) | ~¥2.5T–2.6T (manufacturer shipments) | 矢野経済研究所 manufacturer shipment value basis | △ |
| US beauty (2024 · prestige + mass) | Unconfirmed (Circana paywalled data) | Circana combined prestige and mass market | △ |
| Global aesthetic procedures (2024) | ~38M procedures · 7.8M toxin · 6.3M HA filler | ISAPS Global Survey 2024 · sample survey of plastic surgeons (excludes dermatologists and GPs → understates true total) | ✔ |
| Global aesthetic injectables (toxin + filler · 2025) | $12.6B–$16.1B | Research firm estimates (Towards Healthcare $16.12B · others $12.6B) · definitions and methodologies vary, directional only | △ |
| Global aesthetic botulinum toxin (2025) | $5.6B–$5.7B · North America ~52% | Fortune Business Insights $5.6B · Towards Healthcare $5.74B · research estimates | △ |
| Galderma revenue (2025 · benchmark) | $5.207B (+17.7% constant currency) · injectables +11.5% | Galderma 2025 Annual Report · combined aesthetic injectables, dermatological skincare, and therapeutic dermatology — a single-company benchmark for gauging true market scale | ✔ |
| China medical aesthetics services (2025) | RMB 370.1B · 31.05M non-surgical (light) medical aesthetics users | 艾媒咨询 estimate · diverges sharply from 2019 forecasts of "RMB 1T by 2025" (definitional gap) · based on clinic service revenue | △ |
| GLP-1 · obesity & diabetes blockbusters (2025) | Tirzepatide $36.5B + Ozempic $19.6B + Wegovy ($3.4B in Q4 alone) | Lilly 4Q25 earnings ✔ · Novo via press summary (DKK converted to USD) △ · these two companies account for nearly the entire market | △ |
| Global pharmaceuticals market (2024) | ~$1.6T | IQVIA annual outlook | △ |
| Longevity investment (2024 → 2025) | $8.49B → ~$5.7B | Longevity.Technology annual report (2024) · PitchBook-based analysis · L.E.K. (2025) · "longevity" scope depends on each tracker's taxonomy | △ |
| AI drug discovery · AI biotech funding (2025) | Single total unconfirmed · overall AI healthcare $18B+ (46% of $46.8B healthcare VC) | Press coverage of SVB 2025 Healthcare Investments Report · oft-cited figures like "$7.8B across 127 deals" lack primary sourcing | △ |
| Revenue Model | Key Examples · Unit Economics | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Brand Wholesale (Department Stores · Drugstores · Multi-Brand Retailers) | L'Oréal, Estée Lauder, and Amorepacific sell at wholesale to Sephora, Ulta, CJ Olive Young, and department stores · roughly half of retail price goes to retail channel · L'Oréal gross margin 74.3% (2025) | Brick-and-mortar wholesale → rising share of e-commerce & social commerce (L'Oréal e-commerce 30%+) |
| Duty-Free · Travel Retail · Daigou | Korean duty-free shops selling in bulk to Chinese resellers (daigou) · accompanied by tour-agency commissions and discount rebates · accounted for a huge share of Amorepacific & LG H&H revenue around 2021 | 2022–24 China daigou crackdown & duty-free commission pullback → sharp revenue drop for legacy conglomerates · pivot to US, Japan, and Amazon |
| DTC · Social Commerce (TikTok Shop · Amazon) | APR Medicube, Beauty of Joseon, and Anua sell direct on Amazon & TikTok Shop + creator affiliate commissions · e.l.f. and Rhode scaled on social media before M&A | 2024–26 US becomes #1 export destination for K-beauty (20.7% in 1H26) · margin pressure as TikTok Shop referral fee rises from 6% → 8% (reported Aug 2026) |
| ODM · OEM Contract Manufacturing | Cosmax, Kolmar Korea, and Cosmecca develop and manufacture products for indie brands · brands focus solely on planning & marketing → enables factory-less indie brand launches | US K-indie boom drives surging ODM orders · capacity expansion across China, Southeast Asia, and the US |
| Bio-Ingredients B2B | 华熙生物 sells hyaluronic acid (HA) raw materials to pharma, cosmetics, and food companies · 巨子生物 does not sell recombinant collagen externally, reserving it exclusively for its own brands (可复美 81% of sales, ✔ annual report) | HA oversupply & price erosion → shift toward recombinant collagen, peptides, and exosomes |
| Toxin · Filler "Consumables + Physician Network" | Allergan, Galderma, Hugel, and Daewoong supply vials and syringes to clinics · physician training & loyalty programs (e.g., Allē) drive repeat purchases | Skin boosters (Rejuran PN, Sculptra, Juvelook) emerge as the next growth engine · US toxin growth moderates · fierce price competition in China and South Korea |
| Hardware Sales + Recurring Consumable Tips | Classys Shrink / Ultraformer (HIFU), Jeisys Medical Potenza, InMode — sell the console once and earn continuous high-margin revenue from single-use tips/cartridges per procedure | Hardware sales are cyclical, but consumables are resilient → private equity (Bain Capital, ArchiMed) aggressively buys these recurring-revenue platforms |
| Aesthetic Clinics · Chains | Korean dermatology clinics · China 新氧 self-operated clinics (2025 medical aesthetic service revenue RMB 675M · 44% of total) · US med spas | Chinese platforms pivoting to owning brick-and-mortar clinics · surge in inbound medical tourism to South Korea (Gangnam, Myeongdong) |
| Platform Advertising · Booking Fees | Gangnam Unni, 新氧, RealSelf, @cosme, Hwahae — clinics and brands pay for ad placements, promotional exposure, and patient leads | 新氧 information & reservation revenue shrank from RMB 1.06B (2023) → RMB 499M (2025) as it pivots from ads to self-operated clinics · Gangnam Unni expanding into Japan and inbound tourists |
| Prescription Pharmaceuticals | Lilly Mounjaro & Zepbound · Novo Ozempic & Wegovy · Sanofi Dupixent (atopic dermatitis) — reimbursed via insurers/PBMs or out-of-pocket cash pay | GLP-1 becomes the #1 drug class by revenue · 2025–26 price cuts, US government price negotiations, and oral formulation launches |
| Out-Licensing (Upfront · Milestones · Royalties) | Biotechs license drug candidates to Big Pharma for upfront cash + staged clinical/commercial milestones + sales royalties · Alteogen (SC platform) · wave of Chinese biotech out-licensing to Western pharma | 2024–26 China-originated assets account for a major share of Big Pharma in-licensing · mega-deals in obesity and immunology |
| CDMO · Contract Manufacturing | Samsung Biologics, Lonza, and Catalent (acquired by Novo Holdings) manufacture biologics under long-term contracts | Severe shortage of GLP-1 fill-finish capacity → Novo Holdings acquires Catalent for $16.5B (2024) |
| AI Platform Partnerships (Big Pharma Co-Discovery) | Isomorphic–Lilly ($45M upfront, up to $1.7B milestones) & Novartis ($37.5M upfront + up to $1.2B) · Insilico out-licenses internal pipeline candidates | Upfronts are modest while headline milestones are back-loaded → AI biotechs rely on mega-VC rounds (Isomorphic $600M → $2.1B) rather than revenue · first Phase 2 readout for an AI-discovered drug in 2025 (Insilico rentosertib) |
| Longevity's "$0 Revenue + Billionaire Capital" | Altos (Milner & Bezos reported · $3B) · Retro (Altman $180M → pursuing $1B round) · NewLimit (Armstrong · $130M → $435M) — pure R&D with zero product sales | Sector funding dipped from $8.5B (2024) → $5.7B (2025) before rebounding in 1Q26 · first human trials slated around 2027 (NewLimit) |
| Telehealth Subscriptions (GLP-1 · Hair Loss · Dermatology) | Hims & Hers 2025 revenue $2.35B · 2.51M subscribers · 70%+ of US revenue from "personalized" prescriptions · weight-loss shifting from compounded to branded Wegovy/Ozempic from Mar 2026 (renewed Novo partnership) · gross margin compressed from 82% → 64% (2Q26) ✔ · claim that "monthly rev/subscriber fell $84 → $74 due to Novo termination" is a misattribution ✘ | Post-FDA shortage resolution forces wind-down of mass compounding → pivot to branded drug distribution · 2026 guidance raised to $3.1B–$3.3B (Aug) · FTC ROSCA lawsuit (Jul 2026) over auto-renewal/cancellation · international expansion via Eucalyptus acquisition |
| AI Beauty Tech SaaS · Licensing | Perfect Corp (YouCam), ModiFace (in-house at L'Oréal), Haut.AI — annual B2B licensing of AR makeup try-on and AI skin diagnostics to beauty brands | Generative AI lowers barriers to entry · major conglomerates build in-house tools (L'Oréal Beauty Genius) |
In beauty, retail channels traditionally take 30–50% of the retail price, driving brands toward DTC (Amazon 8–15%, TikTok Shop 6–8%). In medical aesthetics, clinics capture most of the procedure fee, so manufacturers make their money on repeat consumables. In AI biotech partnerships, headline figures are mostly theoretical maximum milestones, while actual cash received upfront is in the tens of millions of dollars. (Some figures reflect standard industry norms.)
| Channel · Platform | Creator / Maker Share | Intermediary Cut · Fee | Price Example | Settlement · Terms | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US specialty beauty wholesale (Sephora · Ulta) | Brand share = ~50% of retail price (wholesale price) | Retailer margin ~40–50% + separate co-op marketing & slotting fees | $30 serum → ~$15 brand wholesale price | Industry-standard keystone margin · individual contracts confidential | — |
| CJ Olive Young retail | Brand share = ~60–70% of retail price | Retailer take ~30–40% + shared promotional discount burden | KRW 20,000 toner → ~KRW 12,000–14,000 to brand | Based on press reports · varies by brand | — |
| Korean duty-free → Daigou resellers | Brand supplies duty-free store at list wholesale price | Duty-free store pays tour/rebate commissions to daigou (reportedly 40%+ of sales at peak) | Resold in China at steep discount to official retail | 2023–24 rebate war cooled · daigou volume scaled back | — |
| Amazon US Beauty | Seller share = 85% (excluding separate FBA fulfillment fees) | 8% for items ≤$10 · 15% for items >$10 (on full price) · $0.30 minimum per item | $25 serum → $3.75 referral fee | Biweekly payout · rates frozen in 2025–26 per reports | Source |
| TikTok Shop US | Seller share = 94% − creator affiliate commission (typically 10–20%) | Base 6% (most categories) → reported hike to 8% from 2026-08-04 (official schedule still displays 6%) | $25 item → $1.50 fee (6%) · affiliate commission separate | New seller promo rates (3% for 30d or 2% for 90d — sources conflict) · △ | Source |
| ODM (Cosmax · Kolmar Korea) | ODM share = factory supply price (single-digit operating margin, ~5–8%) | Brand captures spread between retail and ODM supply price, bearing marketing & distribution costs | KRW 20,000 retail product → few thousand KRW supply price | Per-batch MOQ pricing | — |
| Botulinum toxin procedure (South Korea · US) | Manufacturer share = vial supply price (small fraction of procedure fee) | Clinic keeps most of procedure price (physician labor, rent, marketing) | Forehead Botox: tens of thousands of KRW in Korea vs. several hundred USD in US — product cost is a much higher share in Korea due to price wars | Manufacturers sell upfront to clinics and distributors | — |
| HIFU console + tips (Classys Shrink / Ultraformer) | Manufacturer = console sale + per-procedure tip revenue (consumables make up a large share of total sales) | Clinic recovers console depreciation + tip cost through patient procedure fees | Shrink 300-shot session: tens to hundreds of thousands of KRW | Proprietary tip authentication & shot counters lock in repeat purchases | — |
| 新氧 (China medical aesthetics platform) | Clinic share = procedure price − ad & lead fees | Info & booking services RMB 499M (2025, down from RMB 1.06B in 2023) → self-operated clinic chain RMB 675M (44% of total) | Standardized pricing for light aesthetic procedures at self-run clinics | Pivoting from ad portal to clinic operator · FY25 revenue RMB 1.523B · net loss RMB 242M | Source |
| Gangnam Unni (procedure info & booking app) | Clinic share = procedure price − ad & promo listing fees | Charges clinics for ad placements, top rankings, and consultation leads (DB) | Public promo pricing drives price transparency | Korean medical law bans patient brokerage commissions → structured as ad fees | — |
| AI Biotech × Big Pharma partnership (Isomorphic–Lilly · Novartis) | AI biotech = $45M upfront (Lilly) & $37.5M (Novartis) + up to $1.7B & $1.2B milestones + mid-single to low-double-digit royalties (Novartis) | Big Pharma funds clinical trials & commercialization and keeps most commercial profits | (Drug pricing set post-commercialization) | Milestones are theoretical caps, not guaranteed · signed Q4 2023 · $0 milestones achieved as of Oct 2026 · £74.96M (~$97M) cumulative partnership revenue recognized over 3 yrs (✔ UK filings) | Source |
| App Store subscriptions (beauty & health apps) | Developer share = 70% (85% after year 1) · 85% for small business program | Apple & Google take 30% → drops to 15% in year 2 of subscription | $9.99/mo subscription → ~$7.00 to developer · ~$8.50 in year 2 | Web-checkout steering expanding following US court rulings | — |
| Date | Transaction | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-04 announced · 2023-08 closed | L'Oréal acquires Aesop (from Natura &Co) | Enterprise value $2.525B | L'Oréal's largest acquisition at the time · luxury & China expansion · △ |
| 2023-10 | Amorepacific acquires additional stake in COSRX (call option) → ~93% | ~KRW 750B (additional tranche) | Followed 38.4% stake (~KRW 180B) in 2021 → full consolidation · pivots growth engine from China to US Amazon · △ |
| 2024-03 | Galderma IPO on SIX Swiss Exchange (EQT consortium) | IPO proceeds ~CHF 2.3B | Reported as Europe's largest IPO of 2024 · stock more than doubled post-listing · △ |
| 2024-04 | Xaira Therapeutics launches (led by ARCH & Foresite) | $1B+ Series A (committed) | CEO Marc Tessier-Lavigne (former Stanford President) · spun out of David Baker's lab · CB Insights logs initial tranche at $500M · △ |
| 2024-06 filing · 2024-11 delisted | ArchiMed tender offer & buyout of Jeisys Medical | ~KRW 990.4B (announced) · some reports cite KRW 720B | French healthcare PE firm · acquired 90%+ stake · valuation discrepancy reflects total EV vs. tender tranche · △ |
| 2024-12 | Novo Holdings completes acquisition of Catalent (3 fill-finish sites transferred to Novo Nordisk) | $16.5B | Secures critical GLP-1 fill-finish manufacturing capacity · △ |
| 2024-12 | 毛戈平 (Mao Geping) Hong Kong IPO | IPO proceeds ~HK$2.3B+ | Domestic Chinese prestige color cosmetics · founded by celebrity makeup artist · △ |
| 2025-02 | Crown Laboratories completes acquisition of Revance (Daxxify) | $3.10/share · ~$900M+ EV (repriced down from $6.66/share) | Challenger toxin maker sold at more than 50% haircut amid fierce US toxin competition · △ |
| 2025-03 | Isomorphic Labs first external funding round (led by Thrive · GV · Alphabet) | $600M | Followed by reported $2.1B Series B in 2026 (MGX, Temasek, CapitalG, UK Sovereign AI Fund) · △ |
| 2025-03 · 2025-09~10 | Lila Sciences (Flagship) Seed → Series A | $200M → $350M ($550M cumulative) | "Scientific superintelligence" autonomous labs · NVIDIA participation reported · △ |
| 2025-01~ | Retro Biosciences (Sam Altman) fundraising | $1B target (following Altman's $180M seed) | Conflicting reports on final close · reported first close of new round at $1.8B pre-money valuation in May 2026 · △ |
| 2025-05 · 2026-06 | NewLimit (co-founded by Brian Armstrong) Series B → C | $130M (Kleiner) → $435M (Founders Fund) | Epigenetic reprogramming · $45M extension in fall 2025 ($1.6B cap) · first human clinical trial targeted for 2027 · △ |
| 2025-05 announced | e.l.f. Beauty acquires Rhode (Hailey Bieber) | Up to $1B ($600M cash + $200M stock + $200M 3-year earnout) | Rhode generated $212M LTM net sales · celebrity DTC brand · △ (via press & company release) |
| Mid-2025 | L'Oréal acquires majority stake in Medik8 (UK derma brand, from Inflexion) | ~€1B reported | Science-backed "CSA (vitamin C, sunscreen, vitamin A/retinal)" skincare · △ |
| 2025-10 announced · 2026-03-31 closed | L'Oréal acquires Kering Beauté (Creed + 50-year licenses for Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga) | €4B cash | Includes exploring a wellness & longevity joint venture with Kering · Gucci license takes effect after Coty agreement expires · ✔ (L'Oréal press release) |
| 2025-11 announced · 2026-01 shareholder approval | Kimberly-Clark acquires Kenvue (Neutrogena · Aveeno · Tylenol) | Enterprise value ~$48.7B ($3.50 cash + 0.14625 K-C shares) | Expected to close in 2H 2026 per June 2026 10-Q · ✔ (SEC 8-K · 10-Q) |
| 2025-11 | Pfizer acquires Metsera (obesity biotech) after bidding war with Novo Nordisk | $65.60/sh cash + $20.65 CVR = up to $86.25/sh · ~$10B | Up from initial $7.3B offer after Novo's rival bid · completed · △ |
| 2025-12 announced | L'Oréal acquires additional 10% stake in Galderma (from EQT consortium) → 20% total | Undisclosed (Bloomberg estimates ~CHF 3.9B) | Equity-method accounting · 2 board seats · stated no intention to increase further · expected close 1Q26 · ✔ (L'Oréal press release) / price △ |
| 2025-12-30 | Insilico Medicine lists on Hong Kong Main Board (3696.HK) | HK$2.277B (~$290M) | Largest Hong Kong biotech IPO of 2025 · ~1,427x retail oversubscription · listed under Rule 8.05 (revenue test) rather than Chapter 18A · △ |
| 2025-05 | Bain Capital sells 6% stake in Classys via block deal (after full buyout talks stalled) | ~KRW 220B+ | Seller sought ~KRW 3T valuation vs. bidders offering low-KRW 2T range · △ |
| Person | Country | Role | Core Business Model | Defining Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolas Hieronimus | France | L'Oréal CEO (2021~) | Multi-brand wholesale + derma + luxury · 30% e-commerce | Stepping into medical aesthetics — doubled Galderma stake from 10% → 20% (Dec 2025) · €4B Kering Beauté deal (Mar 2026) · serial buyouts of Medik8 & Aesop |
| Stéphane de La Faverie | France · US | Estée Lauder Companies CEO (Jan 2025~) | Luxury skincare & fragrance · travel retail · China | "Beauty Reimagined" restructuring to reduce reliance on China & travel retail · expanding storefronts on Amazon Premium Beauty · △ |
| 藤原憲太郎 (Kentaro Fujiwara) | Japan | Shiseido President & CEO (2025~) | Prestige skincare · China & Japan travel retail | Succeeded Masahiko Uotani · executing cost cuts, writing down US Drunk Elephant impairment, and resetting the Japan–China core · △ |
| Suh Kyung-bae | South Korea | Amorepacific Group Chairman | Brand wholesale & duty-free → pivoting to US, Japan & Amazon | After heavy China exposure hurt earnings, acquired COSRX (2021–2023) to pivot around a US Amazon powerhouse · △ |
| Kim Byung-hoon | South Korea | APR Founder & CEO | Medicube cosmetics + AGE-R home devices · DTC · Amazon & TikTok | Bundled skincare with home beauty devices under one brand and went all-in on US social commerce, reportedly surpassing Amorepacific in market cap · △ |
| Lee Kyung-soo | South Korea | Cosmax Founder & Chairman | ODM (R&D and manufacturing for client brands) | Expanded to China in the early 1990s/2000s, followed by US and SE Asia plants — strictly sticking to "never launch our own brand, only run the factory" to power the K-indie boom · △ |
| 侯军呈 (Hou Juncheng) | China | 珀莱雅 (Proya) Founder & Chairman | Domestic Chinese brand · 抖音 & 天猫 DTC | Rode a "hero SKU (大单品)" active-ingredient strategy + livestream commerce to become China's #1 domestic beauty group · △ |
| 赵燕 (Zhao Yan) | China | 华熙生物 (Bloomage) Founder & Chairwoman | HA raw materials B2B + proprietary consumer brands (润百颜, etc.) | Expanded from B2B HA supplier into consumer skincare, now overhauling operations after 2023–25 brand slump · △ |
| 严建亚 · 范代娣 (Yan Jianya · Fan Daidi) | China | 巨子生物 (Giant Biogene) co-founding couple (Fan Daidi = Northwest Univ. professor & inventor of recombinant collagen) | In-house fermentation of recombinant collagen used exclusively in own brands (可复美 · 可丽金) · zero external raw material sales | Turned lab technology (recombinant humanized collagen) into 可丽金 (2009 skincare) → 可复美 (2011 medical dressings) → 2022 HK IPO → 3 Class III injectable approvals in 2025–26 · ✔ |
| Flemming Ørnskov | Denmark · Switzerland | Galderma CEO (2019~) | Toxin, filler & skin boosters + derma skincare + therapeutic dermatology | Carved out of Nestlé and unified three dermatology pillars to deliver a landmark 2024 IPO and top $5.2B revenue in 2025 |
| Dave Ricks | United States | Eli Lilly Chair & CEO (2017~) | Prescription drugs (tirzepatide) · LillyDirect DTC pharmacy | Massive capex in tirzepatide manufacturing + self-pay DTC channel · 2025 revenue $65.2B (+45%) · aggressive AI partnerships including Isomorphic |
| Maziar Mike Doustdar | Denmark (born in Iran) | Novo Nordisk CEO (Aug 2025~) | GLP-1 prescription drugs (Ozempic · Wegovy) | Took the helm after ceding ground to Lilly · cut guidance, reduced headcount, lost Metsera bidding war, and warned of 2026 sales decline (−5% to −13%) · △ |
| Demis Hassabis | United Kingdom | Google DeepMind CEO · Isomorphic Labs Founding CEO (2021~) | AI drug discovery partnerships (upfronts & milestones) + VC funding | Spun AlphaFold (2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) into a drug design company · raised $600M first external round in 2025 → $2.1B in 2026 |
| Hal Barron | United States | Altos Labs CEO (former GSK Chief Scientific Officer) | $0 revenue · billionaire capital ($3B) | Left the top R&D job at a Big Pharma giant to lead cellular reprogramming longevity research — emblem of the "Big Pharma → Longevity" talent migration · △ |
| Yuri Milner | Israel · US (born in Russia) | Investor (DST) · key backer of Altos Labs | Personal capital into longevity science | Spearheaded the $3B launch capital for Altos Labs in 2022 · △ |
| Sam Altman | United States | OpenAI CEO · primary backer of Retro Biosciences | "Add 10 healthy years to human lifespan" · $0 revenue | Seeded Retro with $180M of his own money · pursuing $1B round in 2025 · collaborated with OpenAI on protein design model (GPT-4b micro) · △ |
| Brian Armstrong | United States | Coinbase CEO · NewLimit Co-Founder | Epigenetic reprogramming · $0 revenue | Channeling crypto wealth into longevity R&D · NewLimit raised $435M Series C in 2026 · △ |
| Patrick Collison | Ireland · US | Stripe CEO · Arc Institute Co-Founder | Non-profit research institute (donations & grants) | Independent institute model outside traditional academia · released open-source biological foundation models (Evo) · △ |
| Alex Zhavoronkov | Hong Kong · US · China (born in Latvia) | Insilico Medicine Founder & CEO | Internal pipeline out-licensing + AI software + 2025 HK IPO | Published Phase 2a Nature Medicine data (Jun 2025) for rentosertib — both target and molecule discovered by AI → advancing to Phase 3 · first clinical efficacy proof for AI drug discovery |
| Hailey Bieber · Tarang Amin | United States | Rhode Founder · e.l.f. Beauty CEO | Celebrity DTC → acquired by public mass-market champion | e.l.f. acquired Rhode for up to $1B — a high-velocity social mass brand buying celebrity prestige skincare · △ |
One representative player from each region that best illustrates the unit economics and growth dynamics of "Beauty × Biotech."
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