Rebel Medicine

Rebel Medicine Inc is a Salt Lake City, Utah-based biotechnology company developing non-opioid therapies for acute and post-operative pain. Its lead asset, Alevatrix, is a long-acting formulation of bupivacaine, an established local anesthetic, encapsulated in the company's proprietary injectable matrix and designed to release drug at the site of administration for up to 72 hours in order to reduce or eliminate opioid use after surgery. The product is intended for use across surgical procedures, either locally at the surgical site or as a nerve block agent. A second program, AlevaDerm, is a long-acting local anesthetic wound dressing for painful dermal injuries, and additional pipeline programs apply the company's delivery systems to extended release of injectable drugs over periods ranging from days to months.

The company was founded in 2018 and previously operated under the name 109 Therapeutics Inc. It progressed from preclinical and IND-enabling work through large animal preclinical studies, a Pre-IND meeting completed in 2024, and the opening of an Investigational New Drug application with the FDA announced in June 2025. Proceeds from its $6 million Series A are directed at a first-in-human, randomized, dose-escalation, active-controlled Phase 2 clinical trial in bunionectomy patients evaluating the safety and efficacy of Alevatrix. Company materials state a positioning around cost-effective design, using simple materials and manufacturing methods to improve the effectiveness of existing drugs rather than developing novel active ingredients.

Founding story

Company materials identify Brett Davis, PhD (CEO), Caleb Lade (COO), Jay Agarwal, MD (CMO), Susan Wojtalewicz (Director of R&D) and Sierra Erickson (Director of R&D) as co-founders, with the company founded in 2018 to address acute pain that is otherwise primarily managed systemically with opioids.

Business model

Rebel Medicine develops proprietary drug delivery formulations applied to already-validated active pharmaceutical ingredients, with the stated aim of producing extended-release therapeutics while reducing development time, cost and risk. Development has been funded through a combination of equity financing and non-dilutive federal and state grants, and the company has stated it seeks partners and investors for its clinical program.

Not stated beyond development-stage funding; the company states it focuses on improving the effectiveness of existing drugs to deliver pain management products at low cost and on pricing products to share value with stakeholders.

Traction

Rebel Medicine received three SBIR Phase I awards and one Phase II award, totaling $1,814,789 ($808,310 in Phase I and $1,006,479 in Phase II dollars) across NIH and NSF, with a first award in 2020 and latest in 2024, including a $1,255,817 NSF Phase II award in 2023 and a $263,051 NIH Phase I award in 2022. The company reported $1.8M in non-dilutive grant funding from NSF, NIH and the State of Utah alongside $3M in seed funding, published large animal preclinical data in August 2024, completed a Pre-IND meeting for Alevatrix in September 2024, and in June 2025 announced a $6M Series A concurrent with the opening of its IND application for a Phase 2 trial.

Latest developments

On 12 June 2025 the company announced the closing of a $6 million Series A financing led by Crocker Ventures and the formal opening of its IND application with the FDA for Alevatrix, with proceeds funding a first-in-human, randomized, dose-escalation, active-controlled Phase 2 trial in bunionectomy patients.