With an eye on the company’s commercial future, CXL Ophthalmics has renamed and rebranded as Epion Therapeutics.
This name deliberately taps the medtech company’s EpiSmart System, which is now set to start phase 3 testing in keratoconus, a corneal disorder that causes distorted vision.
This EpiSmart System is designed to be minimally invasive while also able to be used at an earlier stage of diagnosis. The idea is that EpiSmart can treat keratoconus without disturbing the epithelium tissue, which Epion hopes will allow “for a rapid return to normal activities,” it said in a July 6 press release.
With the final stage of testing coming up, the young company, which only got off a $32 million series A last year, is swiftly eyeing a commercial future and clearly wants to link its name and brand with its leading product.
“Our new name signifies our unwavering commitment to positively impact the lives of individuals affected by keratoconus globally,” Michael Webb, CEO of Epion, said in the release. “We will continue to work in close partnership with clinicians to advance the care of keratoconus patients.”
This also continues a trend of the past year that has seen multiple biotechs change up their names.
At the start of the year, PsiOxus Therapeutics become Akamis Bio in a nod to classical myth, and, in the last quarter of 2022, a slew of biopharmas got new names and rebranded, including CytRx, Respira, Adagio and Bone Therapeutics, with many coming as a result of difficult times and the need for a corporate reset.
More recently in May, neurology-focused biotech Wren Therapeutics became WaveBreak. The new name highlights the company's focus on “stopping the wave of neurodegeneration,” while the nautical theme continued with Blue Water Vaccines, which also in May officially changed its name to Blue Water Biotech as it expanded outside of infectious disease work.