Thesan Pharmaceuticals Inc. followed up last fall’s $16 million series A financing with $49 million in series B money to support research in acne and atopic dermatitis.

Shawna Miller, director of finance for Carlsbad, Calif.-based Thesan, said the company was “keeping a low profile” for now, and would not comment beyond its press release until an “appropriate” time.

At the series A round, Thesan said plans included moving a topically applied candidate into the clinic in 2013, though the more recent press release does not allude to the pipeline, other than to note that the firm’s lead drug candidates are first-in-class molecules with novel mechanisms of action.

Thesan’s areas of focus have not had new treatments in many years, though other firms have recently made public their efforts. Earlier this month, Durham, N.C.-based Novan Therapeutics Inc. disclosed its early stage work with timed-release nitric oxide in acne vulgaris and atopic dermatitis, as well as common warts. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 10, 2014.)

Xoma Corp. has gevokizumab for inflammatory acne and other conditions, such as active non-infectious anterior scleritis and arterial wall inflammation. The monoclonal antibody binds to interleukin-1 beta, and Xoma, of Berkeley, Calif., reported promising data last year from the interim analysis of a phase II study in moderate to severe acne.

Lainate, Italy-based Cosmo Pharmaceuticals SpA has CB-03-01 for acne, a molecule patented by the company, which is described as a steroidal ester and androgen antagonist derived from 11-deoxycortisone. Phase II trials in acne are expected to finish in the first half of this year. The compound may also be used for male pattern baldness and seborrhea. Cosmo also aims to file an investigational new drug application in alopecia.

Generics firms are getting into the acne act. Last October, Actavis plc, of Dublin, filed an abbreviated new drug application for clindamycin phosphate and benzoyl peroxide gel 1.2 percent/ 2.5 percent. The drug is a version of Acanya Gel (Dow Pharmaceutical Sciences Inc. and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.) for the treatment of acne vulgaris in patients 12 years and older.

In late 2012, Ranbaxy Laboratories Inc., of Gurgaon, India, launched Absorica (isotretinoin) capsules for severe, recalcitrant, nodular acne in patients younger than 12. Licensed from Cipher Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, the product was formulated in such a way that it does not need to be given with a high-fat meal, as is usually the case with isotretinoin. Ranbaxy said that Absorica is therefore not interchangeable or substitutable with generic products of Accutane (isotretinoin, Roche AG)

In atopic dermatitis, players are lining up. Especially strong are Sanofi SA, of Paris, and Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., which reported pooled data from two phase Ib trials with dupilumab (REGN668/SAR231893), a subcutaneously administered, fully human antibody targeting the alpha subunit of the interleukin 4 receptor.

In data unveiled during the American Academy of Dermatology meeting in Miami last March, treatment with four weekly injections of dupilumab at either 150 mg or 300 mg per week was shown to significantly improve the signs and symptoms of patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis whose disease was not adequately controlled with topical medications.

Results from phase IIb trials with dupilumab are expected in the second quarter of this year, and Regeneron expects to begin phase III development soon thereafter.

Last December, Abingdon, UK-based Atopix Therapeutics Ltd. recruited its first patient in a six-month phase II trial of OC459. The goal of the study is to detect an effect of OC459 on flares, and the primary endpoint was change on the Eczema Activity Severity Index. Preclinical studies have shown that OC459 suppresses the recruitment and production of key cells mediating allergic response such as Th2 lymphocytes, basophils and eosinophils. (See BioWorld Today, June 6, 2013.)

Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., has an atopic dermatitis therapy, too. Shares of the company last November rose 13 percent on word of data from its maximal use systemic exposure (MUSE) study of boron-based phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor AN2728 in pediatric and adolescent patients, ages 2 to 18, with the condition.

Results with AN2718 ointment 2 percent suggested that it’s safe, well tolerated and efficacious when used twice daily. MUSE enrolled 34 patients with a mean involvement of 48 percent of total body surface area affected. Data showed that 65 percent of patients achieved an Investigator Static Global Assessment (ISGA) score of 0 (clear) or 1 (almost clear) after four weeks of treatment, with 47 percent of patients achieving an ISGA score of 0 or 1 with a minimum 2-grade improvement after four weeks.