VC firms inject CHF 20m into Oculis

Bay City Capital led the round. Novartis Venture Fund, Pivotal BioVenture Partners, Brunnur Ventures and Silfurberg also took part.

Oculis will use the extra funding to advance its phase-IIb clinical trial for OC-118, a treatment for diabetic macular edema (a condition that causes blindness in young adults).

The company simultaneously announced the relocation of its headquarters from Reykjavik to Lausanne, Switzerland. Its research and development facility will remain in Iceland.

Previous funding
Icelandic investment firms Brunnur and Silfurberg led a series-A funding round for Oculis in 2016. In conjunction with the financing, Árni Blöndal of Brunnur Ventures and Stefan Jökull Sveinsson, the former global head of R&D at Actavis, joined the board.

Company
Oculis is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of topical treatments (eye drops) for ophthalmic diseases for both back and front of the eye. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, with research operations in Reykjavik, Iceland, Oculis was founded by Einar Stefánsson and Thorsteinn Loftsson in 2014.

People
Novartis Venture Fund – Florent Gros (managing director).
Oculis – Riad Sherif (CEO); Einar Stefánsson and Thorsteinn Loftsson (founders).

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• Topics
• Early-stage
• DACH
• Healthcare
• Venture
• Switzerland