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Biopharmaceutical firm Signum Dermalogix said the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases or NIAMS has granted the firm USD 1.6 million. The Small Business Innovation Research or SBIR Phase II grant was awarded to Signum Dermalogix to develop its topical drug candidate formulated for atopic dermatitis.

Together with the funding the biopharmaceutical company received in Phase I, Dermalogix was able to come up with a screening paradigm that identified potent therapeutic compounds using its isoprenylcystein or IPC technology platform. As a result, several IP C compounds containing anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial capabilities were identified. Dermalogix said it will use the proceeds from the new grant to choose a lead drug candidate and start safety/toxicology studies.

Signum Dermalogix President and Chief Executive Officer Maxwell Stock said the award proved that IPC compounds could be used in dermatology. He said, "We are pleased to be awarded this grant by the NIH and our objective continues to be the development of our technology with the goal of delivering therapeutic agents to treat skin disease."

Dermalogix also recently announced that the FDA had cleared its Investigational New Drug or IND application for the evaluation of IPC compound SIG990 for the treatment of rosacea. This was made possible with proceeds received from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases SBIR funding.

Information gathered from its website said Signum Dermalogix was spun out from Signum Biosciences.The private biotechnology company was founded two years ago.

Data from CrunchBase showed that the most recent grant brought the funding total of Signum Biosciences to USD 5.6 million. It raised USD 4 million in July 2011. Aside from skin conditions, Signum also develops therapies for asthma, Alzheimer's, COPD and Parkinson's disease. Its Signal Transduction Modulation (STM) platform enables the firm to come up with pharmaceutical candidates and new consumer products.