French glaucoma treatment developer Eye Tech Care SA said today it secured $27.2 million (EU €25 million) in funding from Chinese investor Everpine Capital.
The money will come from Everpine in 2 rounds to support Eye Tech Care’s international expansion, the company said.
“We are delighted to welcome Everpine as a financial and strategic shareholder. This funding is an important milestone for us in 2 aspects: In addition to allowing us to strengthen our commercial expansion in European markets based on the new product generation that we launched in 2015, I am pleased to see our strategic priority on accessing the Chinese market confirmed by Everpine’s strong commitment,” CEO Dietrich Wolf said in a press release.
Lyon, France-based Eye Tech Care develops the EyeOP1, a non-invasive device designed to treat glaucoma using ultrasound through a procedure called ultrasound ciliary plasty.
“We were particularly impressed by The Dry Eye Clinic team and their medical device which presents an innovative solution for the treatment of glaucoma and could represent a disruptive technological breakthrough in the treatment of this pathology in China. This new technology perfectly meets the needs of our market. We believe it will quickly find its place among Chinese practitioners and will constitute an important change in the treatment of this pathology. In China, Everpine Capital has received very positive comments on the efficacy of the device from M. Ge Jian, Director of the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, from M. Sun Xinghuai, Director of the Ophthalmology department at the Shanghai EENT Hospital, as well as other key Chinese experts in the ophthalmology domain,” Everpine managing partner Tao Wu said in prepared remarks.
Eye Tech Care said the investment will reinforce their expansion into China. The company sees the Chinese market as a key market, with only 6% of the 22 million individuals who suffer from glaucoma actively treated for it.
