Renovion, a pharmaceutical startup, has big dreams for drug development that will target chronic inflammatory airway diseases. And the company continues to attract attention from investors while also receiving orphan drug status from the FDA..

“Our goal is to be the first drug ever approved for patients that have received a bilateral lung transplant,” Renovion declares.

“After success in these patients, we want to help patients in other areas such as cystic fibrosis, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).”

In a securities filing, Renovion says its hunt for investors has landed the company more than $1.8 million. That’s nearly double the initial amount raised by the startup that it reported last August.

But Renovion is not done, saying it wants to raise just over $2 million.

So far, 13 investors have participated in the funding.

The latest SEC Form D signed by Daniel Copeland, Joseph Davis, R. McCoy Jr. and Derek Winstanly on Jan 17.

The company also wants to develop therapies for cystic fibrosis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Earlier this month, Renovion reported that it had been granted “orphan designation” for Arina-1, its proposed treatment of lung dysfunction following lung transplant.

“Receiving Orphan Designation for Arina-1 is an important milestone that supports our commitment to developing this therapy for the underserved population of lung transplant patients” noted Copeland, the firm’s CEO.

Arina-1 is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial at Duke University.

What’s the orphan designation mean? Notes Renovion:

“Orphan designation by the FDA is designed to incentivize the evaluation and development of products that demonstrate promise for the diagnosis and/or treatment of rare diseases or conditions. Orphan Designation is granted based on scientific and clinical data that supports the safe and effective, diagnosis or prevention of a rare disease that affects [fewer than] 200,000 persons. This designation allows for tax credits on research, FDA fee exemptions and seven years of marketing exclusivity after marketing approval is granted.”