The brain-computer interface company said Darius Shahida would continue his previous work leading its global commercialization and partnership efforts, following the European launch this summer of its Prima implant for restoring vision in patients with age-related macular degeneration, or AMD.
In July, Science’s co-founder and CEO Max Hodak said the company was chasing country-specific reimbursement coverage for Prima, and that it is aiming for the first commercial implant to take place in Germany.
Earlier this year, Science collected $230 million through a Series C venture capital round. Backers including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Y Combinator, IQT and Quiet Capital helped push the company’s lifetime fundraising total to about $490 million since its 2021 debut.
The Prima implant, first developed by Pixium Vision, was acquired by Science in 2024 after it first worked to develop the Science Eye platform. Prima’s subretinal implant pairs with a set of camera-equipped glasses that beam near-infrared light to the photovoltaic chip placed in the eye, to help patients better read high-contrast writing in the center of their vision.
According to the company, its CE Mark makes it the first BCI approved for vision correction in the world. In the U.S., the system has obtained a breakthrough designation from the FDA and Science has submitted it for agency review.
“In many ways, our company is entering a new commercial era,” said Hodak, who previously co-founded Elon Musk’s Neuralink. “Darius is already helping us build the commercial organization and operating infrastructure required for this next phase.”
This past February saw Science partner with Neurosoft on the development of neural recording tools, including bendable electrode implants lacing thin films. Neurosoft aims to develop minimally invasive BCI systems for tinnitus, epilepsy and other disorders.
At the time, Shahida described the structure of that multiyear, multimillion-dollar partnership as “the first of many,” with the goal of supporting a broader community of BCI development.
