Alcon, the eye care division of Switzerland-based drugs company Novartis, has agreed to acquire Transcend Medical, a US-based company backed by Kaiser Permanente Ventures focused on developing minimally-invasive surgical devices to treat glaucoma.
In April 2014, Transcend completed a $22m series C round from existing investors and an undisclosed global pharmaceutical and medical device company.
Although it did not explicitly name which investors took part in the round, the company’s existing backers include Kaiser Permanente Ventures, the corporate venturing unit owned by care consortium Kaiser Permanente, which backed Transcend’s $16m series B round in 2012 alongside venture capital firms Investor Growth Capital and Finistere Ventures, and Transcend’s series A backers.
VC firms HLM Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Latterell Venture Partners, Split Rock Partners, Technology Partners and Morgenthaler Ventures previously invested in the company’s $35m series A round in 2009.
It was spun out of healthcare incubator ForSight Labs in 2005, Transcend.