Oculis raises an additional $15M in funding before going public

The Iceland-founded biopharmaceutical company Oculis which is purposefully driven to save sight and improve eye care with innovations has raised $15M as first reported by Viðskiptablaðið. The participating investors in this newly secured funding round are from Iceland and abroad. This funding adds to the $80M that the company raised in October last year.

Along with last year’s funding, Oculis announced that the company had entered a definitive business combination agreement with European Biotech Acquisition Corp (EBAC), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Through this agreement, Oculis is set to merge with EBAC and be listed on the Nasdaq, the American stock exchange. Below you can read our coverage of Oculis’s last year’s funding and the agreement with EBAC.

The company was founded in 2003 by Dr. Einar Stefánsson, professor of Ophthalmology, and Dr. Þorsteinn Loftsson, professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Today the company is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland with operations in Europe and the U.S.

One of Oculis’s most advanced product candidates, OCS-01, has successfully completed a Phase 2 trial in DME (DX-211) with 144 patients providing the first proof-of-concept for a topical drug effect in retinal edema. If approved in DME, it has the potential to provide a new and potentially the first non-invasive option for patients. OCS-01 also successfully completed another Phase 2 trial in Inflammation and Pain following cataract surgery. Following the completion of both Phase 2 trials, an End of Phase 2 meeting was conducted with FDA and the product candidate is now moving into phase III in both indications.