Ocular Therapeutix eyes a $24M Series D extension | Wall Street Beat

Ocular Therapeutix said it closed a $23.8 million Series D extension round from existing backers for its sustained drug release technology to treat eye diseases.

The Bedford, Mass.-based medical device company said all of its current institutional investors ponied up for the round, including Polaris Ventures, Versant Ventures, SV Life Sciences, Sparta LLC, and Ascension Health Ventures.

Ocular Therapeutix is developing a punctum plug for the entry of the tear duct to release drug therapy to the surface of the eye over several months.

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President & CEO Amar Sawhney told MassDevice.com that the company plans to use the funds to back clinical trials of the device and hopes to then commercialize the technology in the U.S.

"There are many punctum plug-based products. We’re focused on glaucoma and post-operative inflammation using a steroid," Sawhney told us. "Generally speaking, we would be doing Phase II trials for both of those indications next year. We would potentially be doing Phase III trials and after that, obviously, [FDA] submission would take place."

Ocular Therapeutix is also awaiting word from the federal watchdog agency on the pre-market approval application for its ReSure sealant, a hydrogel used to protect ocular incisions following eye surgery.

"We’re very excited. We expect to have some sort of approval some time later this year," Sawhney said.

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 Analysts’ ups and downs

• Abbott (NYSE:ABT): Leerink Swann reiterates "market perform" rating, raises price target to $32-$34 from $30.
• Allergan (NYSE:AGN): Bank of America Merrill Lynch raises price target from $106 to $110, maintains “buy” rating.
• Baxter (NYSE:BAX): Leerink Swann maintains "outperform" rating, $74 price target.
• Covidien (NYSE:COV): Barclays Equity Research reiterates "overweight" rating, $64 price target; Citigroup reiterates "buy" rating, raises price target from $64 to $71; Goldman Sachs reiterates "neutral" rating, raises price target from $63 to $66; Leerink Swann maintains "outperform" rating, raises price target to $71 from $65.
• Haemonetics (NYSE:HAE): Barrington downgrades from “outperform” to “market perform” rating.
• Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG): Barrington maintains “outperform” rating, $650 price target; Cantor Fitzgerald maintains "hold" rating, raises price target from $525 to $550.
• Medtronic (NYSE:MDT): Wunderlich Securities downgrades from “buy” to “hold” rating, maintains $46 price target.
• ResMed (NYSE:RMD): Bank of America downgrades from “buy” to “neutral” rating.
• Sirona Dental Systems (NSDQ:SIRO): Cantor Fitzgerald reiterates "buy" rating, raises price target from $72 to $75.
• St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ): Leerink Swann reiterates "outperform" rating, ~$50 price target; TheStreet Ratings reiterates "hold" rating.
• Stryker (NYSE:SYK): Leerink Swann maintains "outperform" rating, raises price target to $74 from $61.

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