EyeD Pharma’s new spin on an old molecule has attracted investor support, giving it 45 million euros ($51 million) to advance an implant that could challenge AbbVie for the glaucoma market.
In 2020, Allergan, part of AbbVie, became the first company to win FDA approval for a sustained-release therapy that is injected into the anterior chamber to lower intraocular pressure. The treatment provided a new option for patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension, who, based on the clinical trial data, experience several months of eye pressure reduction after a single shot of Durysta.
EyeD is working on an implant designed to have at least a two-year duration. The candidate consists of a non-biodegradable intraocular implant that releases timolol, a drug first approved in the 1970s that is still sold as a treatment for open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension today.
If EyeD is right, using an implant to deliver timolol will improve compliance to the treatment and reduce the burden on patients. As well as sparing patients from the need to remember to use eye drops, the implant could stop timolol from entering the bloodstream and thereby prevent systemic side effects. No timolol entered the blood in preclinical studies.
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That prospect has caught the attention of investors. EyeD recently pulled off a 33.6 million euro capital increase that, when added to recoverable advances and subsidies, gave it 45 million euros to take its lead drug into the clinic and work on three other candidates designed to treat various eye conditions. The size of the round establishes EyeD as a force in the Belgian biopharma sector.
“This new round of financing, with the exception of listed companies, is the third largest round of financing in the life sciences sector this year after Agomab and MiDiagnostics in Belgium and the largest in Wallonia. Above all, it gives us the necessary means to conduct our first clinical study in humans and a solid Belgian shareholder base to plan our next development steps,” Marc Foidart, executive chairman of EyeD, said in a statement.