Eyestem Research bags $10 Mn in Series B round

Clinical-stage biotechnology company Eyestem Research has raised $10 million in a Series B funding round co- led by Raju Barwale  and Alkem Laboratories managing director Sandeep Singh.

The Bengaluru-based company had previously raised $9.95 million from Alkem Lab., Biological E and C-CAMP.

The proceeds will be utilized for the completion of the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial in India and support preparations for filing an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Eyestem said in a press release.

Co-founded in 2015 by Jogin Desai, Rajani Battu, and Rajarshi Pal, Eyestem Research focuses on developing cell replacement therapies for incurable eye diseases. The company is known for its work on dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). It is developing a therapy called Eyecyte-RPE, which uses retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells to replace damaged cells in the retina. 

According to Eyestem, Eyecyte-RPE is being developed for patients with geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD). The company has submitted its Phase 1 clinical study report to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and is awaiting approval to initiate Phase 2. 

As per the company, Eyecyte-RPE can help replace the damaged or lost retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and potentially enable tissue regeneration in the diseased retina. This unique formulation is allogeneic, scalable, and can be stored as a frozen vial for long periods of time.

Dry AMD is the leading cause of blindness for people over 50. Geographic atrophy (GA) is an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that leads to progressive and irreversible loss of central vision, characterized by the death of cells in the macula, the central part of the retina. Approximately 196 million people suffer from dry AMD globally, five million of whom suffer from GA.

The other notable players in this space are Lineage Cell Therapeutics and Voyager Therapeutics.