Eyevensys adds Ohad Hammer to its Board along with closing its €9m Series A funding round

– FRANCE, Paris – Eyevensys, a private biotechnology company developing its proprietary EyeCET platform, the first non-viral technology that allows a safe local sustained production of therapeutic proteins in the eye to address a wide range of ophthalmic diseases, announces 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.

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 electrotransfection injection system (ETIS) to deliver plasmids encoding for the production of anti-TNFα in the ciliary muscle of the eye. TNFα 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.

Raffy Kazandjian, CEO of Eyevensys, said: “We are grateful that Pontifax, a leading health-care dedicated venture fund, alongside our existing investors, share our excitement about the potential of EyeCET’s technology to deliver long-lasting treatment to address a wide range of ophthalmic diseases. This extension funding supports our clinical strategy on EYS606 and will also allow us to start to unlock the potential of our pre-clinical pipeline.”

Ohad Hammer, of Pontifax Venture Capital, said: “Delivering drugs to the eye is one of the major challenges in the ophthalmology area. Eyevensys’ innovative EyeCET technology brings a truly novel approach to treating ophthalmic diseases with the potential to offer significant clinical benefit as well as improved patient convenience. We are looking forward to supporting the Eyevensys team, with the guidance of the founder, Professor Francine Behar-Cohen, in developing innovative therapies to treat complex ophthalmic diseases.”

- DisclaimerNews, data, and statements included in this release are intended exclusively for general information purposes. Talent4Boards does not guarantee that news is accurate or about the correct person and accepts neither liability for the consequences of the reader’s reliance, nor responsibility for the accuracy of the information. Nothing in this release should be considered for decisions about referred securities. Products and brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.