Eyevensys, a France-based ophthalmic diseases treatment developer backed by pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim, closed its series A round yesterday at €9m ($10m).
The extension was led by healthcare-focused venture capital firm Pontifax Venture Capital. Eyevensys began raising the round in 2013 with an undisclosed amount provided by Boehringer Ingelheim subsidiary Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Investments.
The company revealed in October 2015 that Boehringer Ingelheim’s commitment made it the lead investor in a €7.5m first close which included French state-owned investment bank Bpifrance, CapDecisif and Inserm Transfert Initiative, the investment arm of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research.
Founded in 2008, Eyevensys is working on a platform called EyeCET that facilitates the non-viral, local, sustained production of therapeutic proteins in the eye to treat a range of conditions.
The money will go towards advancing the company’s lead candidate, EYS606, into a phase 1b clinical trial in France and the UK by the end of 2016. The therapy is aimed at non-infectious uveitis, an inflammation of the eye that can lead to loss of vision.
Ohad Hammer, analyst at Pontifax, will join the company’s board. He said: “Delivering drugs to the eye is one of the major challenges in the ophthalmology area.
“Eyevensys’ innovative EyeCET technology brings a truly novel approach to treating ophthalmic diseases with the potential to offer significant clinical benefit as well as improved patient convenience.
The round follows $2.1m in seed funding from Bpifrance-owned fund Innobio, Inserm Transfert and CapDecisif in 2012.
– This article was adapted from a piece on our sister site, Global Government Venturing.