Eyevensys Announces Series A Extension Bringing Total Capital Raised to €9 Million

PARIS, September 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

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 electro-transfection 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."

For more information, please contact:
Eyevensys
Raffy Kazandjian, CEO
[email protected]
Tel: +33-184-791-060

Media Relations
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
David Dible, Sylvie Berrebi
[email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20-7638-9571

About Non-Infectious Uveitis

Non-Infectious Uveitis is a severe inflammation of the internal structure of the eye and rare-disease afflicting approximately 250,000 patients in US and EU. NIU is the 4th cause of blindness and a major one amongst younger individuals. The market potential is estimated around €270m growing at 6,5 % (CAGR).

About Eyevensys:

Eyevensys is a private biotechnology company developing its innovative EyeCET platform to enable the sustained intraocular production of therapeutic proteins to treat a broad range of ophthalmic disease.
Eyevensys' EyeCET technology uses electroporation to deliver protein coding plasmids, which are safe and non-viral, into the ciliary muscle of the eye. This approach enables the ciliary muscle cells to sustainably produce therapeutic proteins locally.

Eyevensys believes its EyeCET technology can improve short and long-term therapeutic outcomes by greatly enhancing patient compliance and significantly improving the tolerability of treatment.

Eyevensys' lead product EYS606 is a potential new treatment for patients with non-infectious Uveitis (NIU). EYS606 consists of Eyevensys' proprietary electro-transfection injection system (ETIS) in combination with a plasmid encoding for the production of anti-TNF, a cytokine that has been shown to play a pivotal role in mediating intraocular inflammation in NIU. EYS606, which has been granted an Orphan designation by the EMA for the treatment of NIU, is expected to enter the clinic in 2016.
Eyevensys was founded in 2008. It is headquartered in Paris, France, and is funded by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, BPI France, CapDecisif, and Inserm Transfert. To-date it has raised a total of €10.8 million (including €1.9 million public financing).

For more information about Eyevensys please visit www.eyevensys.com

SOURCE Eyevensys