The joint venture is said to involve scientists screening and evaluating a library of roughly 40,000 natural extracts provided by the National Cancer Institute, in an effort to establish potential applications in pigmentation.
Heading up the project is the chief of the hospital’s Department of Dermatology and past President of the Society for Melanoma Research, the largest international society dedicated to the study of melanoma, Dr. David Fisher.
According to Fisher; the collaboration will pave the way “towards understanding the role of natural products in supporting or inhibiting the processes that generate pigment.”
“Hyperpigmentation is one of the most frequently cited concerns resulting in patient visits to a dermatologist, with the most common forms being melasma, solar lentigines and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation,” he points out.
Invaluable
Meanwhile, Mary Fisher, chief executive officer of SkinMedica notes the venture to be invaluable to the industry; "Fisher’s expertise in pigment and the skin's environmental responses will be invaluable as we together pursue novel approaches for patients with a variety of pigment related concerns.”
SkinMedica has been catering to the cosmetics industry with its line of aesthetic skin care products said to improve the appearance and aging of skin for some years now. It's newest division Colorescience, offers dermatologist-recommended, high-performance cosmetics formulated to remedy and camouflage specific skin concerns and protect the skin from damaging effects of the sun and environment.
It currently markets a line of cosmeceutical products including TNS Recovery Complex - featuring antioxidants, matrix proteins and soluble collagens - to reduce the signs of aging.
Expansion
Back in 2004, the specialty pharmaceutical company received financial backing to further expand its cosmeceutical pipeline and business development activities including possible acquisitions of dermatological products and technologies.
Then, the company had entered a deal with existing, and new investors to sell $25.8 million of its Series D preferred shares.
"This financing exhibits the extremely high caliber of investors that SkinMedica has been able to attract and their belief in the potential for both our pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical product lines. We anticipate that the funding from this round will enable us to expand our pipeline and sustain the growth of our current products," said then, CEO Rex Bright.