While biotech research areas such as obesity drugs—which Morgan Stanley Research upped its 6-year market forecast for by $39 billion this year—have been a focus for institutional investors and hedge funds in recent years, a number have also participated in deals involving research that specifically addresses vision- and eye-related conditions.
Recent Investment Activity
In March of this year, MarketBeat reported a number of institutional investors and hedge funds had altered the amount of shares they held in commercial-stage ophthalmic company Eyenovia.
American International Group Inc., for instance, obtained a new $32,000 stake in the company in the second quarter of 2023 that was worth $32,000, and Financial Management Network Inc. acquired a stake in Eyenovia the following quarter that was worth $128,000.
According to MarketBeat, Armistice Capital's Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed it had also purchased a new position in shares of Eyenovia, Inc. in the third quarter of 2023, adding 3,087,021 shares of the company's stock, bringing its ownership to about 8.08%.
Eyenovia is an ophthalmic technology company that's commercializing MydCombi, a tropicamide and phenylephrine hydrochloride ophthalmic spray used for eye exam pupil dilation and in pharmacologic mydriasis applications for ocular surgery, and the Clobetasol Propionate Ophthalmic Suspension, 0.05% product for inflammation and pain after ocular surgery.
The company is also developing items such as the Optejet device, which is used in connection with its own drug-device therapeutic product for pediatric progressive myopia and for other applications.
Also in March, biopharmaceutical company Outlook Therapeutics, which is developing a formulation to treat retina disease, closed a previously announced private placement led by private investment firm Great Point Partners[EB2], LLC. Other investors who were part of the deal included Armistice Capital and U.S.-based investment firm Woodline Partners.
The private placement resulted in upfront gross proceeds of approximately $60 million, which were generated from the issuance and sale of shares of the company's common stock and accompanying warrants.
Outlook Therapeutics is currently working to obtain the first approval for an ophthalmic formulation of bevacizumab, a medication the Mayo Clinic says is used to treat conditions such as metastatic colon or rectum carcinoma, nonsquamous, non-small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma brain tumors, metastatic kidney cancer—and, in combination with other medicines, to treat platinum-resistant, recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer.
Outlook's ONS-5010/LYTENAVA therapy is a formulation of bevacizumab designed to treat wet age-related macular degeneration, which Johns Hopkins Medicine says is the most common cause of severe vision loss, occurring when abnormal blood vessels begin to grow beneath the retina, leak fluid, and blood and can create a large blind spot in the center of a person's visual field.
In May of this year, biotech company GenSight Biologics also announced it had offered shares through a private placement to shareholders such as healthcare investment firm Sofinnova, investment firm Invus, and Armistice Capital.
GenSight is developing gene therapies for retinal neurodegenerative diseases and central nervous system disorders. Its gene therapy product for Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON)—a rare genetic disease that can affect the optic nerves and lead to vision loss, according to the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society.
According to a press release GenSight issued about the private placement, the company planned to use the net proceeds from the deal to fund corporate expenses, manufacturing operations, and regulatory procedures associated with its gene therapy product, LUMEVOQ. The release also included a statement from the company's CEO, Laurence Rodriguez, thanking investors for their continued support.
