Irvine-based LensGen Inc.’s recent $11 million funding, part of a $21 million Series A funding raised last May, represents a vote of confidence by investors.
Chief Executive Ramgopal “Ram”
Rao said that while he has full faith in the
company’s fluid, curvature-changing intraocular lens, the presbyopia—farsightedness that occurs with age—lens sector has been hurt by earlier failures, and investors are cautious when it comes to betting their money on new technologies.
The financing was led by the corporate venture investment arm of HOYA Group and included participation by San Diego-based Relativity Healthcare Partners.
Rao, who pointed out that earlier-stage funding types, such as seed and Series A rounds, rarely come as tranched investments, said lead investor HOYA’s decision to invest an additional $4.4 million in the Series A proves that “[the lens] really works.”
HOYA focuses on eyeglasses, medical endoscopes, intraocular and optical lenses, and key components in semiconductor chips.
Proceeds will be used to finish necessary steps to get the Food and Drug Administration’s permission to start clinical trials. LensGen executives hope to start patient enrollment early next year.
Premium Lens
Intraocular lenses are medical devices implanted inside the eye to replace the natural lens when it’s removed in cataract surgery. In the past, cataract surgery’s main goal was to restore distance vision, say for driving, while leaving residual near-vision problems to reading glasses. The market is growing, projected to reach $5.5 billion worldwide by 2025, according to Grand View Research Inc.
But more patients are demanding premium intraocular lenses in order to be glasses-free, said LensGen Chief Operating Officer Michael Landreville.
The intraocular lens category has evolved to offering a variety of premium intraocular lenses with advanced features beyond those found in a basic single vision lens covered by Medicare and other types of health insurance.
LensGen’s current product in development, Juvene, also belongs in the premium lens category. The accommodating intraocular lens is designed to restore the eye’s natural ability to seamlessly focus on near and far objects, as with a camera’s autofocus.
Other lenses include multifocal, which functions similarly to bifocal glasses, the top part of the lens for distance, the bottom for near; and a toric lens used to address residual astigmatism after cataract surgery.
Those lenses aren’t without setbacks. Patients complain about visual disturbances and loss of contrast sensitivity with multifocals, according to findings of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. As for the latter, there’s the rare occurrence of postoperative astigmatism, which in rare instances requires surgical reintervention, the report said.
Landreville said that for multifocal lenses, there are talks of further splitting them to trifocal but that that “puts the burden of seeing clearly on the brain.”
Rao said he believes LensGen’s implant can help restore youthful vision with its ability to contract and release like the natural human lens does.
The cillary muscle, which contracts and releases the tension on the lens to accommodate viewing objects at varying distances, weakens with age, resulting in loss of flexibility and diminished ability to clearly focus on near objects.
2019
Rao said the company plans to start clinical trials next year and will raise a Series B that could include HOYA, though that’s not a requirement.
Momentum is also evident at its new headquarters. The company is moving to a 14,000-square-foot office and lab at Irvine Spectrum, and plans to build a clean room to support research and development and manufacturing.
Landreville said LensGen is hiring, planning to more than triple its headcount to approximately 24.
