BIOPHTA, a preclinical biotech company that develops technology to treat eye diseases, has closed a €6.5 million seed funding. The round was led by European VCs – UI Investissement (via the Pertinence Invest 2 Fund, advised by Mérieux Equity Partners), Elaia (invested in NcodiN and HarfangLab), and GO Capital alongside Unither Pharmaceuticals and HTL Biotechnology.
The French biotech company aims to bring its patented technology to clinical development with this fresh funding.
Targets unmet medical need in ophthalmology
Each year, nearly 1.3 million people worldwide become blind and another 36 million become severely visually impaired. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 1 billion of the world’s cases of vision impairment could be prevented by adhering to currently available treatment regimens of self-administered daily eye drops or invasive intraocular injections. However, the under-treatment rate in ophthalmology is still high, with about half of the patients not adhering to their treatment regimens for eye diseases.
BIOPHTA overcomes adherence issues encountered with traditional eye drops and the high cost and invasiveness of frequent and painful intraocular injections. With this unique topical, non-invasive, and self-administered therapy that provides continuous drug micro-dosing for 7 days, the company improves the efficacy of eye treatments.
Already, its first program is in the treatment of Glaucoma with Phase 1 expected to arrive in 2025 to tap into the $8.7 billion market. The second program is in Macular Edema with Phase 1 expected in 2026 tapping into the $9.6 billion market. To summarise, BIOPHTA is targeting the two leading causes of blindness.
Develops treatment for eye diseases
BIOPHTA was co-founded in 2020 by 2 pharmacists – Jean Cuiné and Jean Garrec. It has developed a new standard of care for ocular diseases based on its “thiomer” biopolymers technological platform. BIOPHTA’s ophthalmic insert with a 3 mm diametre mini-tablet is placed on the surface of the eye as easily as a contact lens.
Once applied, BIOPHTA’s ophthalmic insert transforms into a hydrogel pellet that stays in place on the eye without moving and delivers a continuous and controlled low dose of the drug for seven days. It’s the first time a therapy has such innovative technological features to disrupt both front-of-the-eye and retina treatments.
“With this funding, we are taking a major step towards the clinical validation of our technology in Glaucoma and then in Macular Edema. Our ambition does not stop here, and we remain fully dedicated to bringing sight-saving therapies to all patients in need of simple and efficient treatments,” said Jean Garrec, founder and CEO of BIOPHTA. “Our Seed investors syndicate brings not only the financial resources but also complementary expertise and networks that will help structure the company. They will play a critical role in our development.”
The consortium of VCs with UI Investissement (via the Pertinence Invest 2 Fund, advised by Mérieux Equity Partners), Elaia, and GO Capital, commented: “The technology developed by BIOPHTA is truly a game changer for the millions of patients worldwide who struggle with inadequate treatments for their eye diseases. Our VC syndicate is excited to support BIOPHTA’s growth.”
“We are delighted to support BIOPHTA and bring our respective expertise to this disruptive innovation in ophthalmology, which will improve patients’ lives,” stated François Fournier, CEO of HTL Biotechnology, and Eric Goupil, CEO of Unither Pharmaceuticals.
