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January News Round Up

๐‰๐š๐ง๐ฎ๐š๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ž๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐‘๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐”๐ฉ

๐Ÿ‘ ๐๐š๐ฎ๐ฌ๐œ๐ก + ๐‹๐จ๐ฆ๐› ๐€๐œ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ ๐–๐ก๐ข๐ญ๐ž๐œ๐š๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐œ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž๐ฌ & ๐€๐ฏ๐ข๐œ๐ž๐๐š ๐’๐ž๐œ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ $207.5๐Œ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐†๐€ ๐“๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ
 Bausch + Lomb has acquired Whitecap Biosciences, strengthening its clinical-stage pipeline with treatments for glaucoma and geographic atrophy (GA). Chief Medical Officer, Yehia Hashad MD expressed optimism about the potential of Whitecapโ€™s investigational medicines to slow or even improve vision loss in these conditions, marking a significant step forward in ophthalmology.

Aviceda Therapeutics raised $207.5M in Series C funding to advance AVD-104, a promising GA treatment. The financing supports ongoing Phase 2b and 3 trials against avacincaptad pegol (IZERVAY). Patient enrolment concluded in September 2024, with key results expected in late 2025.

๐Ÿค ๐‘๐ž๐ ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐จ๐ง ๐€๐œ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ž๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐š๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐‘๐ž๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐ƒ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ž๐ซ ๐“๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ
 Regeneron has acquired Oxular, a UK-based company specializing in ocular delivery tech for retinal disorders. Oxular's lead candidate, OXU-001, uses a proprietary microcatheter for targeted dexamethasone delivery, potentially lasting up to one year. This acquisition bolsters Regeneronโ€™s portfolio in retinal disease treatment.

๐ŸŒ ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ซ๐š ๐„๐ฑ๐ฉ๐š๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ฅ๐š๐ง๐๐ฌ
 Optegra Eye Health Care has acquired a 51% stake in Iris Eye Clinics through a joint venture with Quadrum Capital. This expansion leverages Quadrumโ€™s network, including Lens Online, the Netherlandsโ€™ largest contact lens supplier. CEO Peter Byloos sees this as a key step into a dynamic eye care market.

๐Ÿ‘€ ๐„๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ๐‹๐ฎ๐ฑ๐จ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐š ๐„๐ฑ๐ฉ๐š๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐Œ๐ž๐-๐“๐ž๐œ๐ก ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐„๐ฌ๐ฉ๐š๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐†๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐€๐œ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
 EssilorLuxottica is acquiring Italy-based Espansione Group, a leader in non-invasive medical devices for dry eye, ocular surface, and retinal diseases. This move strengthens its presence in med-tech and eye care innovation.

๐Ÿ“ข ๐–๐žโ€™๐ซ๐ž ๐€๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Œ๐ˆ๐ƒ๐Ž 2025
 Weโ€™ll be attending MIDO in Milan this week! If youโ€™re hiring or seeking a new role in eyecare, please reach out to James Pickering.