The money will support a US launch.
ALPHARETTA, GA — Visioneering Technologies Inc., which makes NaturalVue Multifocal 1 Day contact lenses, has raised $33.3 million Australian dollars (U.S. $25.6 million) in an initial public offering.
The IPO proceeds will provide capital as VTI broadens and accelerates the U.S. launch of its daily disposable contact lenses for adults with presbyopia and children with myopia and launch additional contact lens products.
The funds raised in the IPO are intended to further build out the US sales force to about 45 direct sales representatives over the 12 months following listing, and to build inventory that will support the expanded sales effort.
Tony Sommer, the company’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, will lead growth of the sales force. Sommer was the head of sales for the US Vision Care division at Bausch & Lomb.
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The NaturalVue MF contact lens has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and a pilot launch in the U.S. market began in 2015 generated strong interest, according to a press release.
The company stated: “Within 12 months of the pilot launch commencing, demand for the NaturalVue MF contact lenses far outpaced VTI’s ability to supply product with its then limited infrastructure, and 90 percent of patients who had been using the lenses long enough to use up their supplies reordered, indicating strong repeat purchasing.”
VTI offered for issue about 79.4 million CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs), each representing an interest in one share of VTI’s Class A common stock. The CDIs will be quoted on the Australian Securities Exchange following the IPO.
The IPO was fully underwritten by Cannacord Genuity.
“With a very successful pilot launch completed, with the calibre of sales leadership we have recently attracted and installed, and with a successful IPO enabling rapid expansion of our sales infrastructure, new product launches, and inventory, we are well poised to deliver on the growth plans laid out in our prospectus,” said Dr. Stephen Snowdy, VTI’s CEO.
