Details

Last Funding Type

Series A

Last Funding Money Raised

$250K

Industries

Biotechnology,Health Care,Medical

Founded date

May 1, 2006

Number Of Employee

1 - 10

Operating Status

Active

OcuMedic’s technology: Timed Drug Delivery to the Eye via a Contact Lens/Clear Corneal Bandage with 7 Day wear.The technology rests on 10 issued patents, and a recent Freedom to Operate (FTO) opinion. Efficacy has been proven in an animal model. The intellectual property teaches a novel therapeutic contact lens with memory capable of controlled release of first line ophthalmic agents, both anti-inflammatory and antibiotic. The technology has been developed for the most common and widely used contact lens material silicon hydrogel, (SiHy). The technology is also a platform technology and has been tested for a wide range of ten (10) other drugs as well as molecules to enhance lens comfort and treat dry eye. Controlled release from contact lenses has been the subject of discussions and investigation for fifty, (50) years as eye doctors attempted to soak lens in drugs gaining negligible therapeutic effect. Previous engineered methods suffer from either poor control of the release profile or inadequate drug loading with the overwhelming majority of researchers demonstrating both problems. Thus, there are no products on the market today. With the OcuMedic’s method memory for the drug is produced during polymer synthesis where monomers are complexed non-covalently to the drug and crosslinked into a hydrogel matrix. Upon removal of the drug, macromolecular memory sites remain within the hydrogel with affinity for the drug. The drug’s heightened interaction with these memory pockets enhances its loading and SLOWS its transport within the hydrogel despite comparable free volume of drug transport. It has been shown that the extension of release has a strong dependence on mimicking biological recognition in the design exploiting the chemical diversity and amounts of monomers in relation to the drug. Thus, OcuMedic can literally…. DIAL IN THE RELEASE OF DRUG FROM THE LENS OVER TIME delivering a therapeutic concentration of drug payload for the duration of wear.Key Milestones: The biggest hurdle and Key Milestone has been the development of the enabling break thru technology on how to control the sustained kinetics of drug release in a SiHy lens for duration of wear AND maintain other lens properties such as; modulus, optical clarity, thickness, and oxygen diffusivity. OcuMedic’s patented technology creates a new architecture with memory for the drug within the polymeric network comprising the contact lens to enable continuous, controlled, release of the drug to the eye. The non-obvious proprietary solution was the development of the macromolecular memory release concept utilizing and optimizing interactions between the drug and chemistry within the lens via multiple polymer chains within the network structure. Second, securing the World-Wide license from Auburn University 18 months ago which include 9 Granted Patents and now 10 with the recent European grant. The OcuMedic’s Market & Solution: Currently topical eye drops wash out quickly with only ~5% of the drug getting to the desired site. Most eye drop therapeutic regimens require multiple drops per day and most patients miss their doses which leads to complication costing $70 billion per year. The OcuMedic’s solution is continuous dosing using contact lens with visual correction or a clear contact bandage providing more efficacious and convenient therapy DECREASING COMPLICATIONS and reducing HEALTH CARE COSTS.
Currently Optometrists in the US are enabled as physicians under Medicare and under state licensure dispense diagnostic and therapeutic agents. With the advent of “co-management” of patients undergoing cataract surgery (4million procedure/year) or Lasik (800K procedures/year) and post-corneal abrasions (1million/year) the Optometrist along with the 19,000 Surgical Ophthalmologist are ideally suited to deliver OcuMedic’s therapy both by license and as the prevailing optometric contact lens fitters that hold inventory in their practices in the case of the 33,000 US Optometrists.. OcuMedic’s technology will provide clinicians a powerful, new tool to treat patients. Use of Funds: The laboratory porotypes lens is complete with in-vivo data that supports efficacy. The next stage in the development are Pre-clinical studies in order to navigate the FDA as further bench animal studies are planned to validate SAFETY. The timing is thirteen (13) months costing $1.5M. This development is planned to stage OcuMedic for the 1-2 multi - site human clinical trials to further validate safety and assess efficacy and bioequivalence requiring 30 months costing $2.5M. There is a potential for multiple EXIT points along the development path each with a higher valuation. Management believes the Series A could be the last money in the company with an EXIT at Phase 1-2 or 2 based on recent take outs at this level with proof of efficacy in humans.
Attorneys: Lam Law, [email protected]
Accountants: Stephen L. Curry, www.stephencurrycpa.com