Suma Krishnan was in her late 40s when she first began considering something most people in biotech would have called too risky, maybe even impossible: a gene therapy to treat a rare disease that makes skin as fragile as butterfly wings. At 51, after quietly formulating the idea and beginning the patent process, she and her husband turned it into a company. That company is Krystal Biotech, now a multi-billion-dollar name in gene therapy.
Instead of chasing venture capital, they chose to fund the startup themselves using about $5 million they had earned from earlier biotech work. It was a high-stakes decision, especially because the science itself had never really been done this way before. Even regulators were seeing it for the first time.
Just 18 months after starting up in Pittsburgh, Krystal Biotech went public on Nasdaq. Today, Krystal Biotech (NASDAQ: KRYS) is valued at around $7.9 billion. Earlier, in 2025, Forbes had estimated its value at about $4.4 billion. The company’s financial growth was already showing an upward trend back in 2024, with revenue climbing to $291 million from $51 million the year before. Profits also rose strongly during the same period.
A rare disease, a rare approach
Krystal Biotech focused on a condition called dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, sometimes called “butterfly skin disease.” It affects only a few thousand people in the US, but it causes severe suffering. Patients often live with constant pain, open wounds, and heavy bandaging.
Krishnan’s idea was to use a modified herpes simplex virus to deliver a healthy copy of a gene directly into the skin through a gel. If it worked, it could help the skin heal from within.
A life built in biotech
Suma Krishnan, now 60, has spent nearly her entire career in drug development. She grew up in Bombay in a modest household and later moved to the US for higher studies. She earned a master’s in organic chemistry at Villanova University, where she met Krish Krishnan, who was studying at Wharton.
In her early career, Suma worked at companies like Janssen Pharmaceuticals and New River Pharmaceuticals, where she helped develop Vyvanse, a widely used ADHD drug. Over the years, she has worked on many rare disease and gene therapy programs and holds more than 70 patents.
Suma Krishnan’s wealth mainly comes from her large stake in Krystal Biotech, the company she co-founded with her husband, Krish S. Krishnan, where she also serves as President of R&D.
Based on insider filings and estimates as of early to mid-April 2026, her net worth is generally placed between $400 million and $800+ million. (The exact number shifts depending on the source and how her shareholding is valued at the time.)
Building without big investors
At the time the idea came up, there were no approved treatments for the disease. Suma had already seen the suffering closely while working in gene therapy research. Instead of staying within large pharma companies, Suma and Krish decided to take a bold step and build their own startup. They chose Pittsburgh, where lab space was available, and they could hire young researchers from Carnegie Mellon.
They also avoided venture capital entirely in the early days, raising little money from friends and family. They were very clear with them that it was a high-risk bet.
As of April 2026, the company reached a market value of about $7.9 billion, which is more than ₹66,000 crore, according to NASDAQ market data and recent SEC filings. A major part of its success comes from its proprietary Skin TARgeted Delivery platform, known as “STAR-D”. This system makes the company’s gene therapy gel possible and is now being tested for other uses, including aesthetic treatments like anti-ageing and rarer diseases.
From startup to approval
Despite doubts and uncertainty, the company climbed the success ladder faster than expected. In 2023, Krystal received FDA approval for its first therapy, Vyjuvek, a major milestone for a gene therapy company. Getting approval for a treatment that could be used at home, especially one involving a modified virus, was not easy, especially during the COVID-19 period when concerns about viruses were high.
As of 2025, the treatment was priced at $24,250 per vial. For an average patient using multiple vials a year, the cost can reach over $600,000 annually, although the number of treatments usually drops over time as wounds heal.
What comes next
Krystal is no longer a one-product company. It now has multiple gene therapy programs in development, including treatments for cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, and eye complications related to its existing skin disease therapy. Some are in late-stage trials.
The company is using revenue from Vyjuvek to fund these new programs. Most people at that stage of life think about slowing down. But in her late 50s, Suma chose something very different. She chose to start over.
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