Second Sight Medical to Merge With Nano Precision Medical

Second Sight Medical Products Inc. and Nano Precision Medical Inc. (NPM) have agreed to merge, forming a company that will develop drug and medical devices for chronic disease treatment. Under the all-stock transaction, privately-held NPM will be owned by Second Sight. 

“The merger with NPM aligns with our expanded vision to become a top device and drug implant company, allows us immediate access to NPM’s experienced executive leadership team, and provides the two companies with a myriad of opportunities to leverage potential synergies,” Second Sight Board Chairman Gregg Williams said.

Nano Precision Medical, leveraging its proprietary NanoPortal drug implant technology, is creating a portfolio of new drugs that address medication non-adherence, a leading reason for poor clinical outcomes. The NanoPortal implant system combines innovative drug development, engineering and nanotechnology that can deliver minimally fluctuating drug release profiles across a wide range of small molecules, peptides, and monoclonal antibodies. Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company will be under the leadership of NPM’s co-founder, CEO and Chairman Adam Mendelsohn, Ph.D.

“At NPM we are very excited about the proposed merger with Second Sight, which will enable NPM to accelerate development activities for its internal pipeline and also engage with Second Sight in the continued exploration of their visual prosthesis business opportunity,” Mendelsohn said. 
 
In addition to advancing NPM’s drug implant portfolio, the company will continue to explore opportunities intended to create artificial forms of useful vision for the profoundly blind. Second Sight is currently developing the Orion Visual Cortical Prosthesis System, an investigational device intended to bring artificial vision to individuals who are blind due to a wide range of causes, including glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, optic nerve injury or disease, or forms of cancer and trauma. Orion is currently being studied in an early feasibility study at UCLA and Baylor College of Medicine. Second Sight’s legacy product, the Argus II, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat retinitis pigmentosa and was the world’s first FDA and CE Mark approved device that provides artificial vision to individuals with bare to no light perception. Since the Orion bypasses the optic nerve and directly stimulates the visual cortex of the brain, it has the potential to treat a much larger patient population than that associated with the Argus II.
 
Prior to the merger, Second Sight is providing NPM with $8 million for working capital and to enable acceleration of pipeline programs. The boards of both companies voted to support the proposed merger agreement. If the proposed merger is consummated, Second Sight shareholders will join NPM shareholders, including AstraZeneca which has been a strategic investor in NPM since 2016. The merger is expected to close in the second or third quarter this year.
 
ThinkEquity is serving as financial advisor to Second Sight in connection with the merger. In addition, the law firms of Venable and Golenbock are providing legal support for Second Sight and NPM, respectively.
 
Second Sight will issue approximately 134 million shares of its common stock to acquire full ownership of NPM. Second Sight shareholders will acquire approximately 23 percent equity of the combined company. 
 
Second Sight Medical Products Inc. develops implantable visual prosthetics that are intended to deliver useful artificial vision to blind individuals. A recognized global leader in neuromodulation devices for blindness, the company develops new technologies to treat the broadest population of sight-impaired individuals. The Company’s headquarters are in Los Angeles, Calif. 
 
Nano Precision Medical Inc. develops drug implants by leveraging the company’s proprietary NanoPortal drug implant technology. It is based in Emeryville, Calif.