PARIS & FORT WORTH, TX — Eyevensys, a biotechnology company developing non-viral gene therapies for retinal and other ophthalmic diseases, has completed a $30 million funding round.
The company will use the funds to continue development of its clinical lead candidate — known as EYS606 — for the treatment of chronic non-infectious uveitis, including the launch of its Electro Study, according to a press release. This Phase 2 trial, to be conducted in the U.S., will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the candidate in patients with active forms of all anatomic uveitis subtypes.
The funding will also advance the preclinical development of the firm’s other therapeutic proteins targeting ophthalmic diseases with unaddressed medical needs, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. A product candidate known as EYS606 is currently in a phase I/II clinical trial in the European Union and has been granted an Orphan drug designation by the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of non-infectious uveitis.
The new Series B financing round was led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and included participation from existing investors Pontifax, Bpifrance, CapDecisif, and Inserm Transfert, as well as new investors, the Global Health Sciences Fund (Quark Venture LP and GF Securities) and Pureos Bioventures.
In conjunction with the financing, Eyevensys has added members to its board of directors. Neena Kadaba, PhD, director of science at Quark Venture LP, joined the board, as did Dominik Escher, PhD, managing partner at Pureos Bioventures and former founder and CEO of ESBATech, an ophthalmology biotech company acquired by Alcon in 2009.
Eyevensys has also recently opened a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary in Fort Worth, TX. All U.S. operations will be managed from this location, though the Eyevensys headquarters will remain in Paris.
Dr. Patricia Zilliox, Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are thrilled to have completed this Series B funding round with the strong support from both existing and new investors for the company. This funding will assist the further development of our technology and position Eyevensys as an innovator in the field of ophthalmology.”
She continued: “As we launch the Electro Study, our first U.S. clinical trial, Eyevensys will also have an opportunity to connect with ophthalmology opinion leaders in the U.S. to gain further exposure for our groundbreaking technology platform. This will also move the company one step closer to providing a more effective and convenient treatment approach to ease the burden of managing patients with chronic ocular conditions.”
As for technical specifics, the company states:
The Eyevensys technology is a non-viral gene therapy ocular drug delivery platform that uses an Electrotransfection System to deliver DNA plasmids encoding therapeutic proteins into the ciliary muscle. This turns the eye into a biofactory, allowing the ciliary muscle to express and secrete the therapeutic protein to the back of the eye at therapeutic levels for a duration of greater than 6 months.