to advance clinical and commercial development of BRIMOCHOL™ for presbyopia
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 10 August 2021 – LSP, one of the leading life sciences and health care investors, today announced that Visus Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative ophthalmic therapies to improve vision for people around the world, closed $20 million in preferred stock financing, led by LSP (investing from its LSP 6 fund), along with participation from Sage Partners of Hong Kong, Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJDC, Inc.) and other inside investors in the Company. In conjunction with this financing, John de Koning, PhD, a General Partner at LSP, has joined the Company’s Board of Directors.
“This financial milestone comes in advance of the Phase 2 topline readout of our lead clinical candidate, BRIMOCHOL™, in development for the treatment of presbyopia,” said Ben Bergo, Co-founder and chief executive officer at Visus Therapeutics. “Financing from LSP, one of Europe’s leading investment firms, and Sage Partners expands our base of global investors and will support the Company’s drug development and commercial efforts to meet unmet patient needs.”
BRIMOCHOL™ is an investigational drug designed to be a once-daily eye drop to correct for the loss of near vision associated with presbyopia. It is a proprietary formulation that combines two well-studied, FDA-approved pharmaceuticals: carbachol and brimonidine. BRIMOCHOL™ has been studied in more than 200 patients across six clinical studies. Topline data from a Phase 2 clinical study evaluating BRIMOCHOL™ for the treatment of presbyopia are expected in the second half of 2021 and, pending affirmative results, the company plans to immediately initiate pivotal Phase 3 studies.
“I’m particularly excited to welcome John de Koning to our Board and leverage his unparalleled scientific, business and management acumen as we advance BRIMOCHOL™ into late-stage clinical trials and prepare our commercial strategy,” continued Bergo. “John’s decades of leadership experience advising life science companies will be invaluable as we continue to develop a robust portfolio of novel therapies that promise to set new standards of care in ophthalmology.”
"After evaluation of several companies in the presbyopia-correcting eyedrop category, we are pleased to invest in Visus Therapeutics and help bring what we believe to be a best-in-class treatment in this category to the global markets,” said John de Koning. “I’m looking forward to partnering with my fellow board members and the entire Visus Therapeutics management team to deliver BRIMOCHOL™ and other exciting ophthalmic therapeutics to patients.”
The company recently announced that it will be hosting its debut Capital Markets Day on August 31 in New York City and virtually for investors and media. More information is available at the Visus 2021 Capital Markets Day registration site.
About Presbyopia
Presbyopia is the loss of near vision associated with aging, making it difficult to perform tasks like reading fine print. It typically begins when adults are in their 40s and becomes almost universal by age 50. Presbyopia impacts billions of people globally with approximately 123 million adults affected in the US alone. Reading glasses are the most common solution for near-vision correction. However, many people often find glasses inconvenient and/or prefer not to wear them for aesthetic reasons. Currently, there are no FDA-approved medications for presbyopia.
About Visus Therapeutics
Visus Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company focused on developing innovative ophthalmic therapies to improve vision for people around the world. With offices in Seattle and Orange County, Calif., its lead clinical candidate is BRIMOCHOL, an investigational drug designed to be a once-daily eye drop to correct for the loss of near vision associated with presbyopia. In parallel, Visus Therapeutics is focused on advancing its pipeline of early-stage ophthalmic product candidates. For more information: visustx.com.
About LSP
LSP is one of the largest European investment firms providing financing for life sciences and health care companies. LSP’s management has raised over €2.7 billion ($3.2 billion) and supported the growth of 300 companies since it started to invest in 1988, including signature deals such as argenx, Crucell and Neuravi. With offices in Amsterdam, Munich and Boston, LSP currently has the possibility to invest through five strategies, each having a distinctive investment scope and a dedicated team: LSP 6 invests in private early- to late-stage drug development and medical technology companies; LSP HEF 2 focuses on private late-stage medical technology companies; the LSP Dementia Fund invests in companies targeting neurodegenerative diseases; LSP Public targets public healthcare companies; and EBAC is the first healthcare SPAC to exclusively focus on European biotech. LSP is an active contributor to the global life sciences industry and the European life science eco-system by assuming for-profit and not-for-profit roles as initiators, founders and board members in various private and public bodies and organizations, for example being founder and board member of the Oncode Institute. For more information: lspvc.com.
For more information please contact:
John de Koning, PhD, General Partner at LSP
+31 (0)20 664 5500
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