BIOPHTA raises 6.5 million Euros Seed Funding to transition its New Standard of Care for Eye Diseases to the Clinical stage
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The seed round was co-led by UI Investissement (via the Pertinence Invest 2 Fund, advised by Mérieux Equity Partners), Elaia and GO Capital, with participation from one major ophthalmology player, Unither Pharmaceuticals and HTL Biotechnology, the global leader in production and development of pharma grade biopolymers.
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Proceeds to fund first-in-human trial of breakthrough topical Ophthalmic Inserts in the treatment of Glaucoma and to advance a second program in Macular Edema, thus targeting the two leading causes of blindness.
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BIOPHTA’s unique technology is poised to disrupt the treatment of both the front- and back-of-the-eye. The company is developing the first continuous topical retina treatment to free patients from the need for intraocular injections.
BIOPHTA, a preclinical biotech company developing a game-changing technology for the treatment of eye diseases, has just closed a € 6.5 million Seed round to bring its patented technology to clinical development. This funding round was led by leading European VCs – UI Investissement (via the Pertinence Invest 2 Fund, advised by Mérieux Equity Partners), Elaia and GO Capital – as well as one major ophthalmology player, Unither Pharmaceuticals and HTL Biotechnology, the global leader in production and development of pharma grade biopolymers.
With a first program in the treatment of Glaucoma (Phase 1 in 2025, $8.7 billion market) and a second program in Macular Edema (Phase 1 in 2026, $9.6 billion market), BIOPHTA is currently targeting the two leading causes of blindness.
Compliance is the #1 unmet medical need in ophthalmology
Each year, approximately 1.3 million people worldwide become blind and another 36 million become severely visually impaired. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1 billion of the world’s cases of vision impairment could be prevented by adhering to currently available treatment regimens of self-administered daily eye drops or invasive intraocular injections[1]. However, the under-treatment rate in ophthalmology is still high, with about half of the patients not adhering to their treatment regimens for eye diseases.[2],[3]
BIOPHTA overcomes adherence issues encountered with traditional eye drops as well as the high cost and invasiveness of frequent and painful intraocular injections. With this unique topical, non-invasive and self-administered therapy that provides continuous drug microdosing for 7 days, BIOPHTA improves the efficacy of eye treatments.
[1] WHO publication, 2019 World Report on Vision.
[2] Robin A.L. et al. (2019): Medication adherence in patients with ocular hypertension or glaucoma – Expert Review of Ophthalmology.
[3] Ehlken C. et al. (2018): Association of treatment adherence with real-life VA outcomes in AMD, DME, and BRVO – Clinical Ophthalmology.
Breakthrough biopolymers technology that releases drugs on the eye
BIOPHTA has developed a new standard of care for ocular diseases based on its “thiomer” biopolymers technological platform, with a strong intellectual property position. BIOPHTA’s ophthalmic insert (3mm diameter mini-tablet) is simply placed on the surface of the eye as easily as a contact lens. Once applied, BIOPHTA’s ophthalmic insert transforms into a hydrogel pellet that stays in place on the eye without moving, and delivers a continuous and controlled low dose of drug for 7 days. It’s the first time a therapy has such innovative technological features to disrupt both front-of-the-eye as well as retina treatments.
“With this funding, we are taking a major step towards the clinical validation of our technology in Glaucoma and then in Macular Edema. Our ambition does not stop here, and we remain fully dedicated on bringing sight-saving therapies to all patients in need of simple and efficient treatments,” said Jean Garrec, founder and CEO of BIOPHTA. « Our Seed investors syndicate brings not only the financial resources, but also complementary expertise and networks that will help structure the company. They will play a critical role in our development.”
The consortium of VC’s with UI Investissement (via the Pertinence Invest 2 Fund, advised by Mérieux Equity Partners), Elaia and GO Capital, commented: « The technology developed by BIOPHTA is truly a game changer for the millions of patients worldwide who struggle with inadequate treatments for their eye diseases. Our VC syndicate is excited to support BIOPHTA’s growth.”
“We are delighted to support BIOPHTA and bring our respective expertise to this disruptive innovation in ophthalmology, which will improve patients’ lives,” stated François Fournier, CEO of HTL Biotechnology and Eric Goupil, CEO of Unither Pharmaceuticals.
