Irvine, CA-based AcuFocus has closed a $65 million financing round led by Cowen Healthcare Royalty Partners. Other participants included existing investors SV Life Sciences, Versant Ventures, Carlyle Group, Accuitive Medical Ventures and Bausch & Lomb, with Medtronic ($MDT) also joining in the round.
Cowen Royalty's $30 million investment included a $25 million Synthetic Royalty investment and participation in the $40 million in equity financing.
AcuFocus, which was founded in 2001 by Georgia's The Innovation Factory, moved to Orange County in 2004, as the Orange County Business Journal notes. It is developing an implant known as the KAMRA inlay to treat presbyopia, a loss of near visual acuity that occurs with age. The company's target market is people aged 45 and older.
The company's KAMRA inlay carries the CE Mark and is available in select markets across Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and South America. It is currently an investigational device in the U.S., and the company is looking to make a submission to the FDA early next year, according to Ed Peterson, president and CEO of AcuFocus.
"The KAMRA inlay offers a unique solution for the nearly 90 percent of individuals over the age of 45 who suffer from near vision loss today. With a strong global management team, outstanding clinical trial data and more than 7,000 inlays already implanted worldwide, AcuFocus is en route to long-term success," Gregory Brown, managing director, Cowen Royalty, says in a statement.
- see the AcuFocus release
- get the Orange County Business Journal's take