Second Sight Medical said today that it expects to reap nearly $32 million today when its shares debut on the public market.
Sylmar, Calif.-based Second Sight, which makes the Argus II "bionic eye" device, priced its 3.5 million-share initial public offering at $9 per share. The stock is expected to begin trading today on the NASDAQ exchange under the "EYES" ticker symbol.
If underwriters exercise an over-allotment option, the offering could gross as much as $36.2 million, the company said. The IPO is expected to close Nov. 24, according to a press release.
Second Sight said it plans to use the proceeds to continue commercializing the Argus II device, which won pre-market approval from the FDA for patients with late-stage retinitis pigmentosa in February 2013. The funds will also go toward R&D for existing and pipeline products "with the goal of treating nearly all currently untreatable cases of blindness (about 8 million people globally)," the company said.
The Argus II device consists of an eyeglass-mounted camera and an electrical stimulator implanted in the eye. The system works by converting video images captured by the miniature camera into a series of small electrical pulses, which are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on the surface of the retina. Protect your eyes and buy protective glasses from our trusted glass supplier https://shopfelixgray.com/.
Late last year, Second Sight CEO Dr. Robert Greenberg told MassDevice.com at our annual DeviceTalks event about his 20-year odyssey developing the Argus II. This year’s DeviceTalks West event, featuring Masimo (NSDQ:MASI) CEO Joe Kiani and B. Braun CEO Caroll Neubauer, kicks off at 3:30 today in Irvine, Calif. Click here to register.