Sienna Secures $40 Million Investment

Sienna Biopharmaceuticals Inc. announced Wednesday that it has completed its Series B financing round, which raised $40 million. The effort was led by Arch Venture Partners of Chicago and VenVest Capital of Santa Monica. New investors, such as Boston-based Fidelity Management & Research Co., contributed approximately $20 million, while firms that invested in the first round, including Altitude Life Science Ventures of Kirkland, Wash., provided the remainder. “We believe this financing will enable us to advance our development programs, which span pivotal clinical trials to preclinical programs,” Dr. Frederick Beddingfield III, Sienna’s chief executive, said in a statement. The Westlake Village clinical stage medical dermatology and aesthetics company intends to use the money toward its pipeline as it continues to develop topical treatments for pruritus, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis as well as laser treatments for acne vulgaris and light-pigmented hair removal. The majority of Sienna’s executive team come out of former Westlake Village biotech Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc., which brought injectable double chin reducer Kybella to market. The company was acquired by drug giant Allergan Inc. for $2.1 billion in Oct. 2015.