EyeYon Medical raises $25 million for corneal implants

The company has developed the world’s first synthetic implant that enables doctors to treat chronic corneal edema without the use of human tissue or corneal donations

Israeli life sciences company EyeYon Medical announced on Monday that it had raised $25 million in a series C investment round, led by a global strategic leader in the ophthalmic industry, whose identity the company refused to divulge and the CR-CP Life Science Fund, which invests in life science companies that develop drugs, cell therapies, medical devices, and smart healthcare technology. Other participants in the round include Global Health Sciences (GHS) Fund (Quark Venture LP and GF Securities), BPC and existing investors Triventures, Rimonci, Pontifax and Diamond BioFund. The company will use the funds to expand the clinical trials of its flagship product, the EndoArt, the world’s first synthetic implant which enables doctors to treat chronic corneal edema, or swelling of the eye tissue, with a minor invasive surgery that eliminates the need for human tissue.

 

EyeYon Medical was founded in 2011 by Dr. Ofer Daphna, Nahum Ferera, who serves as the company’s CEO, and Dr. Arie Marcovich. The company has raised $36 million to date. Its technology is designed to eliminate the need for organ donation or implanting human tissue in the ophthalmic world. According to recent statistics, there are nearly 13 million people in the world on the list for corneal transplants, and only one out of 70 will undergo surgery.

 

The EyeOn Medical team. Photo: Idan Gross

 

The company’s synthetic implant that treats corneal issues enables doctors to treat the process in a minimally invasive way, without the need to use human tissue or rely on organ donations. Clinical trials of the product are already underway in selected medical centers across Europe including at the IVRC in Heidelberg, Instituto de Microcirugía Ocular (IMO) in Barcelona, and AMC in Amsterdam, and in Israel (Soroka Medical Center, Rambam Health Care Campus, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Barzilai Medical Center) . These trials have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the company’s technology. The current funding round will allow the company to expand its clinical trials in Europe and begin them in the U.S. and China ahead of receiving regulatory approval.

 

“The overwhelming interest in joining our latest funding round reflects the confidence that investors have in our unique and disruptive technology, and its ability to address the clinical challenges and the market opportunity in growing corneal implants. We have developed a novel solution which has already shown groundbreaking results and safety in human trials. The latest investments position EyeYon Medical as a global pioneer in the ophthalmology space and in corneal care,” Nahum Ferera, CEO of EyeYon Medical said.

 

According to Dr. Ofer Daphna, the company’s co-founder who invented the company’s technology, “these resources will enable us to accelerate the clinical and regulatory phases in our key markets, and will simplify corneal surgical procedures that can potentially empower any anterior segment surgeon to perform the surgery with a vision to eliminate the worldwide long waiting list for available human donor corneas.”