Aesthetic drug developer Revance Therapeutics has landed $8 million in venture debt financing from Leader Ventures and Horizon Technology Finance. The money will be used to push its lead compound, a topical form of botulinum toxin type A (popularly known as Botox), through clinical stage trials.
While the injected form of the chemical has gained notoriety in the media, in reality, only about 10 percent of the targeted market (about 25 million women) has used it. Health concerns and discomfort have dissuaded many. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company aims to resolve these issues by providing a topical treatment that could produce the same results. In addition to the treatment itself, Revance is also testing its TransMTS technology, which allows the large botulinum molecules to cross into the skin.
Revance has raised $64 million to date, with contributors including Bio*One Capital, Essex Woodlands Healthcare Ventures, Palo Alto Investors, Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. and Pac-Link Ventures.