US-based clinical-stage biotechnology company Novan Therapeutics, which focuses on treating dermatological conditions, has received $50m in a funding round backed by life sciences company Malin Corporation.
The round was oversubscribed and also included unnamed returning private investors. The funding includes an earlier August 2014 round of $10.3m and is twice the originally targeted amount of $25m.
Novan previously secured $11m in 2013 from private investors located in North Carolina’s Research Triangle area, where the company itself is based.
Spun out of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2008, Novan develops therapies for various dermatological conditions by using a molecule called nitric oxide. The molecule has been shown to regulate inflammation, revitalise tissue, kill invading micro-organisms, and may even be able to fight cancer.
Novan currently has a lead drug candidate for acne in a Phase 2b clinical trial.