Start-up completes $25m funding round for corneal edema implant treatment

EyeYon Medical has completed a $25 million in a Series C funding, led by a global strategic leader in the ophthalmic industry and CR-CP Life Science Fund, which invests in life science companies. 

Other participants in the round include Global Health Sciences (GHS) Fund (Quark Venture LP and GF Securities), BPC and existing investors Triventures, Rimonci, Pontifax and Diamond BioFund. 

EyeYon Medical was founded in 2011 by Dr. Ofer Daphna, CEO Nahum Ferera, and Dr. Arie Marcovich, and develops advanced technology to treat acute problems in the ophthalmic world. The latest round brings the capital raised by the company $36 million.

The new capital will be used to expand the clinical trials of EyeYon Medical’s flagship product, the EndoArt, a synthetic implant which enables doctors to treat chronic corneal edema with a minimally invasive surgery that erodes the use of human tissue. With more than 13 million on the waiting list for corneal transplant, the EndoArt was created in an effort to ease global shortages of corneal donations. Clinical trials, which are already underway in selected medical centres across Europe (IVRC in Heidelberg, Instituto de Microcirugia Ocular (IMO) in Barcelona, and AMC in Amsterdam) and in Israel (Soroka Medical Centre, Rambam Health Care Campus, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre and Barzilai Medical Centre) have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of EyeYon Medical’s technology. 

Following the new investments, EyeYon Medical will expand its clinical trials with the aim to receive regulatory approval in the USA, China and Europe and leverage the company’s extensive professional network and the high demand for the product.

Nahum Ferera, co-founder and CEO of EyeYon Medical, said: “The overwhelming interest in joining our latest funding round reflects the confidence that investors have in our unique and disruptive technology and its tremendous ability to address the clinical challenges and the huge market opportunity in the growing corneal implants market. Together with our team of clinical and medical device experts, we have developed a novel solution which has already shown ground-breaking results and safety in human trials. The latest investments position EyeYon Medical as a global pioneer in the ophthalmology space and in corneal care.”

Dr. Ofer Daphna, co-founder and the inventor of EndoArt, added: “These resources will enable us to accelerate the clinical and regulatory phases in our key markets. EndoArt will simplify corneal surgical procedures and can potentially empower any anterior segment surgeon to perform the surgery with a vision to eliminate the worldwide long waiting list for available human donor corneas.”