LONDON and NEW YORK — EyeBio has completed a $65 million Series A funding round.
The company will use the money “to assemble and develop a diversified pipeline of product candidates that combines scientifically compelling targets with innovative translational approaches,” according to a press release.
“Advances in research are revealing new opportunities to translate science into solutions that serve patients with eye diseases who have urgent and unaddressed medical needs,” said Dr. David Guyer, co-founder, president and CEO of EyeBio. “Patients and physicians deserve new and better solutions, which is why this team of serial disruptors has banded together to form EyeBio. We are launching at an exciting time, and we are equipped with the resources to make a significant impact.”
SV Health Investors led the round, alongside Samsara BioCapital and Jeito Capital, with additional financial backing from MRL Ventures. The Series A “brings together an international team of executives and investors with an extensive track record for developing ground-breaking ophthalmology therapies,” according to the release.
EyeBio was founded in August 2021 by Guyer and Anthony P. Adamis, MD, working with collaborators at SV Health Investors, who provided seed funding and helped to recruit leadership and to initiate pipeline development.
“EyeBio is well positioned to improve outcomes for patients by addressing a segment of ophthalmology that needs further innovation,” said Adamis. “Success requires an ability to execute and deliver new therapies with speed and quality. EyeBio has the talent, skillset, and willingness to introduce new solutions to address familiar problems.”
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Previously, Guyer and Adamis collaborated with SV Health Investors to co-found Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, where they developed and commercialized the first anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) drug for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration in 2005.
Prior to co-founding EyeBio, Guyer served as executive chairman and CEO of Iveric Bio, a biopharmaceutical company developing novel treatments for retinal diseases. Adamis previously served as senior vice president of development innovation at Genentech, a member of The Roche Group. Over his career, he led development programs in multiple therapeutic areas and oversaw 25 U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals.
The EyeBio management team includes:
- Sarah Milsom, Chief Operating Officer, who most recently was Vice President of Translation at Touchlight Genetics and has a background in life sciences strategy, development, and commercialization;
- Jonathan Prenner, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, a nationally recognized retinal specialist and current Clinical Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School;
- Divya Chadha Manek, OBE, Senior Vice President of Clinical Development, who most recently was Director of Business Development and Marketing for the U.K.’s National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network. She also served as the clinical trials workstream lead with the U.K. Vaccine Taskforce (VTF) overseeing the U.K. COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials portfolio;
- Paul Stephens, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC), who previously was Senior Director and Head of Antibody Biology at UCB and brings more than 35 years of experience in the biotechnology industry; and
- Sam Smart, Vice President of Finance, who most recently was Director of Operations at Artios Pharma and brings more than 25 years of experience in finance and operations.
The EyeBio Board of Directors is chaired by Kate Bingham, managing partner at SV Health Investors, who was most recently chair of the U.K. Vaccine Taskforce. Other board members include:
- Mike Ross, Ph.D., Managing Partner at SV Health Investors, where he has co-led the biotech franchise for more than 20 years, following more than 20 years in senior operating executive roles for leading biotechnology companies;
- Srinivas Akkaraju, M.D., Ph.D., Founder and Managing General Partner at Samsara BioCapital, with more than 20 years of experience in life sciences venture capital;
- Andreas Wallnoefer, Ph.D., Partner at Jeito Capital, who has extensive experience in the industry as a former member of the Roche R&D Executive Leadership team, where he was involved in several successful product developments, and subsequently as a biotech investor at BioMedPartners; and
- The two co-founders of EyeBio, Anthony P. Adamis, M.D., and David Guyer, M.D.
“EyeBio is a perfect example of SV’s strategy to build world-class companies around emerging science to deliver high-impact drugs to patients,” said Bingham. “The transatlantic team gives us access to the best of clinical development in the U.K. as well as the U.S. I’m thrilled to have the team back together. Srini (Srinivas Akkaraju) and I were the first major investors in Eyetech, where we worked closely with Tony (Anthony P. Adamis) and David. Andreas also has history with the team as he and Tony worked together at Roche to bring faricimabi to its recent approval.”
