Ivantis Inc., developer of the Hydrus Microstent device designed to lower eye pressure for glaucoma patients, has closed a $25 million Series C financing. The round was led by new investor RA Capital Management, and included new investor Mérieux Développement, as well as existing investors. The funds will extend Ivantis' runway into 2020 and will support U.S. commercialization of the Hydrus Microstent upon its anticipated 2018 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.
 
"Having mapped out every glaucoma treatment technology in the world, we had long suspected that Ivantis was on the verge of a breakthrough," said Peter Kolchinsky, portfolio manager and managing director of RA Capital Management. "In collaboration with our co-investors at Mérieux Développement, our diligence confirmed that Ivantis has run clinical trials that, in our assessment, demonstrated that Hydrus Microstent offers the best combination of efficacy and safety in the history of glaucoma devices."
 
The Hydrus Microstent, roughly the size of an eyelash, is a next-generation glaucoma device that is placed through a minimally invasive, microsurgical procedure and is designed to reduce eye pressure by reestablishing the patient's natural outflow pathway.
 
Most often, glaucoma patients have both a blockage and a collapse of the natural outflow pathway. The Hydrus Microstent relies on a multi-modal mechanism of action, both creating a large opening through the traditional source of flow blockage, known as the "trabecular meshwork," and then dilating and scaffolding the conventional pathway through which fluid exits the eye (known as Schlemm's canal), providing expanded access to the collector channels.
 
"A key competitive advantage is that the device is targeted to Schlemm's canal, the region of the eye all physicians we spoke with said they prefer to work in. The procedure is so straightforward that we believe it could even be performed independently of cataract surgery, essentially marrying the durable efficacy of an implanted device with the ubiquity of laser. Millions of patients around the world stand to benefit," Kolchinsky said.
 
While the current U.S. pivotal trial is evaluating Hydrus Microstent in glaucoma patients who are undergoing cataract surgery, the device is being used both in cataract surgery and in standalone glaucoma surgery internationally. In the United States, more than 20 percent of the 3.5 million patients undergoing cataract surgery have a concurrent diagnosis of glaucoma,¹ representing approximately 700,000 patients each year who may be candidates for the investigational treatment in the United States alone. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2020, 32 million cataract surgeries will be performed globally, several million of which will have glaucoma.

"We are pleased to complete this financing, which we expect will fund Ivantis well beyond the Hydrus Microstent launch, and at the same time we welcome RA Capital Management and Merieux Developpement to our multinational syndicate of investors," said Dave Van Meter, president and CEO of Ivantis. "With reputations for diligence and a commitment to their portfolio companies, we couldn't ask for better partners for this next stage of our company's evolution."
 
Ivantis Inc. is a privately held company established in 2007 to design, develop and commercialize new technologies to treat eye disease. Investors include New Enterprise Associates, Delphi Ventures, Foresite Capital, Ascension Health Ventures, EDBI, GBS Ventures, Vertex Ventures, and MemorialCare Innovation Fund.
 
RA Capital Management is a crossover investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare and life science companies that are developing drugs, medical devices, and diagnostics. At RA Capital's core is its TechAtlas research division, a scientifically trained team that maps out competitive landscapes in a continual effort to put data into context, identify breakthroughs, and originate conviction in new ideas.
 
Mérieux Developpement invests in growth equity and venture capital within the healthcare and nutrition sectors. Merieux Developpement is the investment arm of Institut Mérieux, which employs 16,500 people worldwide and generated revenues in excess of $ 2.7 billion in 2015. Its investment team, comprised of 10 professionals, currently manages 15 portfolio companies in Europe and North America.

Reference:
1. Tseng. Risk of fractures following cataract surgery in Medicare beneficiaries. JAMA. 2012;308(5):493-501.