As a handful of global pharma firms vie for bigger portions of the increasingly popular dermatology market, a new entrant entered the space earlier this year: Aclaris Therapeutics Inc., which launched with a $21 million Series A round to advance its lead topical dermatology program into clinical testing.

The Malvern, Pa.-based start-up, however, boasts some familiar names in dermatology, including President and CEO Neal Walker, a dermatologist and previous co-founder of Vicept Therapeutics Inc., a specialty pharma firm that had been developing a promising rosacea compound when it was acquired in a potential $275 million deal by Allergan Inc. last year. (See BioWorld Today, July 20, 2011.)

Given that successful exit, it's not surprising that Vicept's investors – Vivo Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences and Sofinnova Ventures – returned to invest in Aclaris. "We've got the same team, which is great," Walker said.

Aclaris – the name refers to "clearance" – is playing close to the vest with its lead program. Walker said it's too early to disclose the drug's target or mechanism. The firm is saying only that it is a topical dermatology product for a "highly prevalent condition."

It's in the pre-investigational new drug application stage now.

"We'll be in the clinic in roughly 12 months," Walker told BioWorld Today. The $21 million should be sufficient to get to the end of Phase II and into Phase III. "We should have enough money to do that and to look for more assets."

Beyond that, the company is keeping its options open. "We build this thing to go through NDA [new drug application], but you never know when a partnering deal will arise," Walker said. "In the case of Vicept, it made sense to hand off" V-101, an alpha-adrenergic receptor drug, to a firm such as Irvine, Calif.-based Allergan that could handle global commercialization.

But, with positive data in hand, it seems probable that Aclaris could find itself more than one interested party, particularly given the growing enthusiasm for big pharma in the dermatology market.

In addition to Allergan's 2011 Vicept buy, the space has seen a number of other transactions. Novartis AG's Sandoz unit, for example, closed the acquisition of dermatology firm Fougara Pharmaceuticals Inc. in July, while Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., of Montreal, made a $2.6 billion bid for Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. in September. (See BioWorld Today, Sept. 5, 2012.)

And earlier this year, Danish big pharma firm LEO Pharma A/S announced it was moving into dermatology, unveiling a new scientific collaboration strategy that will allow it to accelerate developments in skin diseases. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 3, 2012.)

The growing interest isn't hard to understand, Walker said. "We're starting to learn a lot more about how skin disorders are caused and what the targets are."

Also, at a time when drug development costs are skyrocketing, dermatology offers a drug development pathway that's "probably a little more predictable and a little shorter compared to something like oncology or diabetes," he noted.

Joining Walker at Aclaris is Chairman Stephen Tullman, the former executive chairman at Vicept, along with other board members Albert Cha, of Vivo Ventures, and Ketan Patel, of Fidelity Biosciences.

Aclaris has rounded out its management team with other Vicept leaders, including Christopher Powala, Stuart Shanler, Frank Ruffo and Brian Beger. All told, the firm currently has eight full-time employees.