NewVa Capital Partners in Radford said it has invested $2.5 million in a Blacksburg company that intends to commercialize a germicidal light treatment for nail and skin infections.

The company is Keraderm Corp., which operated previously in Hampton and voluntarily agreed to make Blacksburg its headquarters, effective last week, said Bill Cumbie, president and CEO.

NewVa Capital Partners supports young companies located in or considering the NewVa region of Southwest Virginia. The private equity and venture capital fund is managed by Third Security LLC in Radford.

Cumbie said the company previously raised $3 million. The additional money will enable Keraderm to complete a pivotal clinical trial of the device and obtain Food and Drug Administration approval to sell it, according to Cumbie, who expects to begin sales in about a year.

The company could expand payroll, now three people, at about that time, he said.

Third Security said in a news release that currently available drug treatments for fungal nail infections, called onychomycosis, produce "limited" results and many patients see the infection come back.

"Keraderm's device, which uses bursts of pulsed light to destroy the fungal infection, has demonstrated positive results in prior clinical trials," the release said.

Cumbie and Third Security said Keraderm does not believe there are any FDA-approved, nondrug treatments on the market for the disease.

But the disease is common enough that consumers are spending $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year on oral and topical drug-based treatments, Cumbie said.

Keraderm has its origins as a limited liability company formed in 2004. Cumbie, the scientific talent behind the device, earned his master's degree in environmental engineering at Virginia Tech.