Latest Industry News & Trends
Market Scope provides comprehensive coverage of the ophthalmic market. Our news stories are a combination of public and proprietary content ranging from coverage of international meetings, surgeon survey results and trends, analysis of company financial reports and public medical registries, press releases, and interviews with executives. Register today to receive free weekly email updates, our top data chart, surgeon poll results, and much more. Locked content can be accessed through a subscription to our ophthalmic industry newsletters.
Funding News
Ophthalmic Venture Capital Continues to Bounce Back, Driven by Retinal Pharma
Venture capital investments accounted for 96 percent of ophthalmic deals in Q2-2025, with financing rounds totaling $590.7 million—the highest quarter since Q3-2023, when these transactions reached...
ForSight Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $125 Million in Series B
Israel’s ForSight Robotics led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with $125 million in Series B funding as it prepares its robotic cataract surgery system for human trials. Financing announced i...
July 2025 Ophthalmic News Briefs
Hoya Vision Care announced June 2 that it had acquired Centennial Optical, a Canadian distributor of ophthalmic frames, eyeglass lenses, sunglasses, lab supplies, and optical accessories. Financial...
Donor Gives $40M to Ophthalmology Department at CU Anschutz in Colorado
An anonymous donor has given a $40 million gift for eye research to the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Colorado (CU) AnschutzMedical Campus in Aurora, Colorado, the school announc...
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Receives $12M Gift to Expand Cell, Gene Therapies
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles reported May 21 that it had received a $12 million gift from Alfred E. Mann Charities to establish a cell and gene therapy research endowment and a shorter-term fund...
PolyActiva Names New CEO, Raises $25 Million to Advance Sustained-Release Glaucoma Implant
Australian company PolyActiva announced June 18 that it had appointed ophthalmic industry veteran Jerry St. Peter as chief executive officer. The company also closed a $25 million Series C funding ...
Regenxbio Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $150 Million Royalty Sale
Regenxbio led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with a $150 million sale of future non-ophthalmic royalties to Healthcare Royalty (HCRx). Financing announced in the past four weeks totaled $535...
ARVO Attendees Share Concern Over Present and Future of Vision Research
The tidal wave of sudden cuts and restrictions to funding for vision and ophthalmic research cast a long shadow over the 2025 ARVO meeting. They came up formally and informally throughout the six-d...
Regenxbio Moves to Monetize Future Royalties in Deal Worth up to $250 Million
Gene therapy developer Regenxbio announced May 19 that it had closed a non-dilutive royalty bond agreement worth up to $250 million with Healthcare Royalty (HCRx). The Rockville, Maryland, company ...
Elanco Sells US Royalty and Milestone Rights for Xdemvy to Blackstone for $295 Million
Elanco, of Greenfield, Indiana, announced May 5 that it had sold certain future US tiered royalties and commercial milestone payments associated with Tarsus’ Xdemvy (lotilaner ophthalmic solution 0...
Therini Bio Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $39 Million in Series A
Therini Bio led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with $39 million in Series A funding to advance its lead candidate targeting the inflammatory component of fibrin. Financing announced in the p...
May 12 is Deadline to Apply for Ramin Tadayoni Award for Research
Applications are open until May 12, 2025, for this year’s Ramin Tadayoni Award, offered by the European Society of Retina Specialists, or Euretina, and supported by Oculis as a tribute to retina sp...
Ophthalmic Venture Capital Funding Hits a Seven-Quarter Peak
Venture capital investments accounted for over half of all ophthalmic deals in Q1-2025, with financing rounds totaling $515.7 million—the highest quarter since Q3-2023, when these transactions reac...
Atsena Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $150 Million in Series C
Atsena Therapeutics led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with $150 million in Series C funding, led by new investor Bain Capital, to advance its gene therapy candidates. Financing announced in...
Job and Funding Cuts in US HHS Department Hit Ophthalmic Community
The Trump administration’s overhaul of the US Health and Human Services Department (HHS) through mass firings, funding cuts, and restructuring continues to affect those working to protect vision. J...
Alcon Announces Majority Ownership of Aurion
Alcon announced March 26 that it had acquired a majority interest in Aurion Biotech, developer of a corneal cell therapy. News of Alcon’s majority stake—after acquiring additional shares in Aurion ...
Surrozen to Focus on Ophthalmic Pipeline, Raises up to $175 Million in Private Placement
Surrozen announced March 24 that it would focus on its ophthalmic pipeline, including the development of new treatment options for retinopathies. Concurrently, the company said that a private place...
Changes in NIH Grant Rules Threaten to Ripple Through Eye Disease Research
Any changes to the rules that accompany US government research grants could affect eye research in the US in a big way. The US government awards an average of $1.1 billion a year in grants to resea...
Deerfield Sues Alcon over Latest Moves to Prevent Aurion IPO
Deerfield Management has filed a lawsuit against an Alcon subsidiary, seeking to prevent Alcon from interfering with Aurion Biotech’s ability to launch an initial public offering. The lawsuit, file...
BVI Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $1 Billion in Strategic Capital
BVI Medical led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with $1 billion in strategic capital, raised from owner TPG and new investors, to continue expanding globally. Financing announced in the past ...
Deerfield Sues Alcon over Latest Moves to Prevent Aurion IPO
Deerfield Management has filed a lawsuit against an Alcon subsidiary, seeking to prevent Alcon from interfering with Aurion Biotech’s ability to launch an initial public offering. The lawsuit, file...
Oculis Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $100 Million Offering
Oculis led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with an underwritten $100 million offering to advance its pipeline of ocular candidates. Financing announced in the past four weeks totaled $149.1 m...
Market Scope and the Glaucoma Research Foundation Celebrate 10 Years of Partnership
The handshake agreement over 10 years ago was simple. Market Scope would attend the Glaucoma Research Foundation’s annual three-day Glaucoma 360 meeting, consisting of a fundraising gala, the New H...
Ophthalmology Officials, Doctors, Researchers Feel Effects of Trump’s Sweeping Changes
The US ophthalmic community and larger health care industry have been affected by many policies implemented by the Trump administration since inauguration day on Jan. 20. Among the 3,600 employees ...
Outlook Reports Final Results of Lytenava Trial, Plans BLA Resubmission in Q1-2025
Outlook Therapeutics reported Jan. 16 the final results of the NORSE EIGHT trial of ONS-5010 (Lytenava), an ophthalmic formulation of bevacizumab for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). ONS...
Aurion Plans to Launch IPO; Alcon Loses Court Bid to Stop Move
A judge will allow Aurion Biotech, of Seattle, Washington, to go ahead with its planned initial public offering after rejecting shareholder Alcon’s arguments to prevent the move. The decision was h...
Ophthalmology Sees $6.3 Billion in Total Investment in 2024, With 18 M&A Transactions
The ophthalmic market continues to expand and attract funding from a wide variety of investors. Total amounts raised in 2024 reached over $6.3 billion. Venture capital investment in ophthalmology i...
Aviceda Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $207.5 Million Round
Aviceda Therapeutics led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with an upsized $207.5 million Series C financing round to support its trials in geographic atrophy. Financing announced in the past f...
Carter’s Many Accomplishments Include Saving Millions from Blindness
Former US president Jimmy Carter’s many legacies include saving the of sight of millions of people in less developed regions by providing treatment for onchocerciasis and trachoma through his Carte...
Bausch + Lomb to Collaborate with Character Bio, City Therapeutics in AMD, GA
Bausch + Lomb recently made deals to collaborate with two companies that it says will bolster its expanding pipeline and help address unmet needs in ophthalmology. Character Biosciences reported on...
Aviceda Raises $207.5 Million in Upsized Series C Round to Advance GA Candidate
Aviceda Therapeutics announced Jan. 7 that it had raised $207.5 million in an upsized Series C funding round. The Cambridge, Massachusetts, company said proceeds would support an ongoing Phase IIb/...
Carter’s Many Accomplishments Include Saving Millions from Blindness
Former US president Jimmy Carter’s many legacies include saving the of sight of millions of people in less developed regions by providing treatment for onchocerciasis and trachoma through his Carte...
NIH Joins Push to Fund Breakthroughs in Oculomics
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is joining the push to fund the development of technologies and biomarkers to diagnose systemic disease through the eye, a field known as oculomics. The NIH ...
$2.3 Million NIH Grant Furthers U. of Oklahoma Research into Retinopathy of Prematurity
A University of Oklahoma neonatologist has earned a five-year, $2.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to further her studies on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Faizah Bha...
NIH Joins Push to Fund Breakthroughs in Oculomics Diagnostic Tech
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is joining the push to fund the development of technologies and biomarkers to diagnose systemic disease through the eye, a field known as oculomics. The NIH ...
Lineage Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $66 Million Offering
Lineage Cell Therapeutics led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with a registered direct offering worth up to $66 million to advance its RPE cell therapy candidate. Financing announced in the p...
ARPA-H Pledges $125 Million to Advance Whole Eye Transplantation
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced Dec. 2 that it would pledge up to $125 million from its Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts (THEA) program to advance researc...
ARPA-H Pledges $125 Million in Quest to Advance Whole Eye Transplants
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced Dec. 2 that it would pledge up to $125 million from its Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts (THEA) program to advance researc...
EyePoint Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $161 Million Public Offering
EyePoint Pharmaceuticals led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with a $161 million upsized underwritten public offering. Proceeds in part will fund clinical development of Duravyu. Financing an...
November 2024 Ophthalmic News Briefs
Heidelberg Engineering announced Oct. 14 that the US FDA had granted 510(k) clearance to its Flex Module for the Spectralis diagnostic imaging platform. The Flex Module mounts the Spectralis to a m...
RevOpsis Awarded $1.8 Million NEI Grant to Advance Retinal Candidate RO-104
RevOpsis Therapeutics announced Oct. 15 that it had been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research grant of $1.8 million from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to advance lead asset RO-104 for ex...
ARPA-H Seeks Proposals for Tear Duct-Based Diagnostic System, Plus Custom Dosing Platform
ARPA-H announced Oct. 18 that it had launched a new program to develop a tear-based biomarker measurement system that can be inserted into the tear duct to provide continuous health monitoring, pai...
Grifols, BARDA Partner on Ocular Immunoglobulin Drops for Sulfur Mustard Exposure
Barcelona-basedGrifols reported Oct. 22 that it is partnering with the US government’s BARDA to test ocular surface immunoglobulin (OSIG) eye drops for their ability to treat ocular damage from sul...
Orasis Leads Latest Ophthalmic Deals with $78 Million Financing
Orasis Pharmaceuticals led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with $78 million in Series D and structured capital to support the launch of Qlosi drops for presbyopia. Financing announced in the ...
Investors Take Temperature of Ophthalmic Market at European Futures Forum
The 2024 Ophthalmology Futures European Forum reviewed the decline in ophthalmic deals in 2024 before offering presenting companies some guidance on how to advance their technology in such an envir...
Eyenovia Launches Clobetasol Drops for Postoperative Pain, Inflammation
Eyenovia announced Sept. 26 the US launch and commercial availability of clobetasol propionate ophthalmic suspension 0.05%, known as Clobetasol, for postoperative inflammation and pain following oc...
Boehringer Ingelheim to Advance Surrozen’s Bi-specific Antibody in Retinal Disease
Surrozen announced Sept. 24 that development partner Boehringer Ingelheim will advance SZN-413, a bi-specific antibody targeting retinal vascular disease. The milestone triggers a $10 million payme...
ONL Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $65M Series D Round
ONL Therapeutics led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with a $65 million Series D round to continue advancing its small-molecule Fas inhibitor for retinal disease. Financing announced in the p...
MeiraGTx Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $50 Million Offering
MeiraGTx led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with a $50 million offering of ordinary shares as it moves forward with its extensive pipeline of gene therapy candidates. Financing announced in ...
US FDA Approves Expanded Access Program for Ocugen’s RP Candidate
Ocugen announced Aug. 5 that the US FDA had approved an expanded access program to allow for the treatment of adults with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) with OCU400—a modifier gene therapy product candi...
Q2-2024 Ophthalmic Deals Total More Than $1.6 Billion, Include One Strategic Purchase
Ophthalmic deals in Q2-2024 reached over $1.6 billion and involved 19 transactions. This compares with $7.0 billion from 25 transactions in Q2-2023 and $2.0 billion from 17 transactions in Q1-2024....
Beacon Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $170 Million in Series B
Beacon Therapeutics led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with $170 million in Series B funding to advance its candidates for retinal disease. Financing announced in the past four weeks totaled...
J&J Leads Series A Round for Crosslinking Tech Developer TecLens
Johnson & Johnson is the lead investor in a Series A funding round for Stamford, Connecticut-based TecLens, developer of a new crosslinking technology, J&J announced June 21. The technology is inte...
Opthea Leads Latest Fundraising with $113.2M Placement, Entitlement Offer
Opthea led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with a $113.2 million placement and entitlement offer, as it continues to advance its wet AMD candidate. Financing announced in the past four weeks ...
LambdaVision Reports First Closing of Seed Round to Advance Artificial Retina
LambdaVision, of Farmington, Connecticut, reported May 29 that it had secured the first closing of a seed round, let by Aurelia Foundry Fund, a fund spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technolog...
RxSight Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $115 Million Public Offering
RxSight led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with a $115 million public offering to continue commercialization of its Light Adjustable Lens portfolio. Financing announced in the past four week...
Retinal Pharmaceutical Transactions Drive Ophthalmic Deals in First Quarter of 2024
Ophthalmic deals in Q1-2024 reached over $2.1 billion and involved 20 transactions. This compares with $2.0 billion from 17 transactions in Q1-2023 and $570 million from 12 transactions in Q4-2023....
Outlook Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $164M in Private Placements
Retinal drug developer Outlook Therapeutics led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with two private placements, for proceeds totaling $164 million. Financing announced in the past four weeks tot...
April 2024 Ophthalmic News Briefs
Alexion, the rare disease unit of AstraZeneca, announced March 25 that the US FDA had approved its long-acting C5 complement inhibitor Ultomiris (ravulizumab-cwvz) for adults with neuromyelitis opt...
LEP Raises Funding to Advance Glaucoma Implant Targeting Inflammation, Fibrosis
Ireland-based LEP Biomedical reported April 4 that it had closed a pre-seed funding round of €100 thousand to advance its HyaGuard platform. HyaGuard is a biodegradable, subconjunctival insert desi...
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