Barcelona-based Almirall, a global pharmaceutical company, has closed a $15 million in Series C equity investment in Suneva Medical, Inc., marketer of Bellafill®. This product is the only dermal filler on the market that is FDA approved proven to be safe and effective for the correction of moderate to severe, atrophic, distensible facial acne scars on the cheek, in patients over the age of 21 years. The deal will give Almirall a position on the Suneva Board of Directors as it continues with its plans to be active in prescription, aesthetics and medicalised OTC Dermatology.

Almirall completed a global collaboration with AstraZeneca in November 2014 to transfer the rights of Almirall’s respiratory franchise. At the time of the transaction it was communicated that the aim of the deal was to provide a strong financial baseline from which to accelerate the strategy and to start focusing Almirall resources to become a top global player in Dermatology.

Eduardo Sanchiz, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are very pleased to confirm this strategic investment in Suneva Medical. Almirall is looking for attractive business development opportunities in the dermatology field and this actually represents our first investment in the aesthetics area. We were attracted by the quality of Suneva’s portfolio and management team and this partnership will allow us to further build our understanding of the aesthetics dermatology market in the US."

“We are enthusiastic about the potential this strategic relationship with Almirall creates as we continue to grow. We look forward to the opportunities with Almirall to energize and expand our business“ said Nicholas L. Teti, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Suneva Medical. "The Almirall equity investment will accelerate the growth for our current product portfolio and allow us the flexibility to continue to build one of the industry’s leading, fully integrated aesthetics companies.”