Imperial Innovations leads a funding round for Precision Ocular, while Consort Medical also participates and enters a collaboration agreement with the spinout.
Precision Ocular, a UK-based retinal disease treatment provider, has raised £13.5m ($19m) in a round led by Imperial Innovations, the investment firm set up by Imperial College London.
Imperial Innovations provided £6.9m in return for a 28.5% stake, while contract drug development and manufacturing company Consort Medical committed £3.3m. The remainder has been provided by drug encapsulation company Hovione Scientia and VC firm NeoMed.
Imperial Innovations acts as the tech transfer office of Imperial College and several NHS Trusts linked to the university, and also invests in Cambridge University and University College London spinouts.
Founded in 2014, Precision Ocular is developing treatments for retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. The company’s approach means drugs are delivered directly to the affected area of the eye, leaving the remaining tissue alone.
The money will be used to accelerate the development of Precision Ocular’s pipeline. The spinout will also enter a strategic collaboration agreement with Consort Medical to scale up production of its products.
Nigel Pitchford, chief investment officer at Imperial Innovations, said: “Most ophthalmic drugs are delivered by topical application in eye drops or direct injection into the vitreous humour, but are limited by difficulties in achieving and sustaining therapeutic drug levels.
“Precision Ocular is pioneering an approach that offers tailored drug distribution and a likely reduction in side-effects, by virtue of the fact that the active drug will not contact the whole eye.”
