Fundraisings and IPOs

Date: 2016-09-15

Type of information: Series A financing round

Company: Eyevensys (France)

Investors: Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (Germany), Pontifax Venture Capital (Israel)

Amount: € 9 million

Funding type: series A financing round

Planned used:

• Eyevensys will use the funds raised to secure the clinical development of its lead product candidate EYS606 that will enter into an open-label Phase Ib study in premier Ophthalmological Centres in France and in the UK by the end of 2016 as a potential treatment for Non-Infectious Uveitis (NIU). This study is expected to be completed towards the end of 2017.
• EYS606 is the first non-viral product that has the potential to treat NIU patients for up to 6 to 12 months following one injection. The treatment uses the company’s proprietary electro-transfection injection system (ETIS) to deliver plasmids encoding for the production of anti-TNF? in the ciliary muscle of the eye. TNF? is a cytokine that has been shown to play a pivotal role in mediating intraocular inflammation in NIU.
• In January 2016, EYS606 has been granted an Orphan designation by EMA for the treatment of NIU.

Others:

• On September 15, 2016, Eyevensys announced that the total capital raised in the Series A is €9 million. This follows a funding extension which was led by Pontifax Venture Capital, a healthcare-dedicated venture capital firm focusing on ground-breaking innovations in life sciences. In conjunction with the closing of the Series A, Mr. Ohad Hammer from Pontifax has joined the Eyevensys Board.

• • On April 11, 2013,  Eyevensys has announced an equity investment by the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF). Dr Michel Pairet, Boehringer Ingelheim\'s head of non-clinical research and development, has been appointed to its board of directors. This equity investment by BIVF marks the start of Eyevensys' next round of funding, which is planned to take place before the end of the second quarter of 2013 and aims to fund the business through to completion of Phase IIa clinical trials. The Eyevensys investment is BIVF's sixth since its launch in 2010 and its first investment in a French company. BIVF had previously taken a stake in Inserm Transfert Initiative, an investment company specializing in seed capital for start-ups coming out of academic research and a past investor in Eyevensys. The company's past investors (Innobio, managed by CDC Entreprises, Inserm Transfert Initiative and CapDecisif Management) also intend to participate in this second round of funding. Eyevensys raised € 1.6 million from its first round of funding in January 2012.

• The aim of this second round is to allow the company to finalize its preclinical trials, proceed to clinical trials within 18 months and complete Phase IIa. Eyevensys is currently focusing on two ophthalmological indications with significant unmet medical needs. These are: uveitis, a rare disease, and age-related macular degeneration, a pathology which occurs more frequently than uveitis and is becoming more prevalent as a result of population aging.

Therapeutic area: Rare diseases - Genetic diseases - Ophtalmological diseases

Is general: Yes