- SV created EyeBio alongside SV Venture Partner David Guyer MD (CEO) and Tony Adamis MD (CSO) both repeat SV entrepreneurs in 2021. Kate Bingham and Mike Ross serve on the Board with Kate serving as Chair.
- SV is one of the longest tenured biotech investors globally having been creating and investing in highly impactful companies since 1993 resulting in the approval of 26 therapeutics including six new drug classes.
- MSD’s $3bn acquisition of EyeBio includes Restoret™, a novel late-phase candidate for diabetic macular edema with potential in age-related macular degeneration, as well as a preclinical pipeline targeting retinal diseases.
- EyeBio will commence its Phase 3 trial for Restoret™ in Q3 2024.
LONDON, BOSTON, 29 May 2024 2pm UK - SV Health Investors, a leading transatlantic venture capital and growth equity firm, is pleased to announce that EyeBio and Merck & Co. (“MSD”) have entered into a definitive agreement under which MSD, through a subsidiary, will acquire EyeBio for a potential total of $3bn including upfront and near-term milestone payments and further, potential milestone payments.
As part of its long history of company creation, SV created EyeBio in 2021 alongside SV Venture Partner David Guyer, MD and Tony Adamis, MD. EyeBio represents the third time SV has successfully backed David having previously done so via Eyetech and Iveric Bio (fka Ophthotech) which was acquired by Astellas in 2023. Whilst CEO of Eyetech, David led the development and commercialisation of Macugen®, the first FDA-approved anti-VEGF pharmacological treatment for wet AMD.
In creating EyeBio, SV helped develop the Company’s business plan, helped build a strong leadership team and identified the in-licensed assets alongside David Guyer. SV is currently EyeBio’s largest shareholder having provided Seed financing in 2021 and led the Company’s Series A in 2022 ($130m in total) investing across multiple SV funds.
“SV is committed to delivering meaningful therapeutics to patients across multiple therapeutic indications and therefore invests in innovative companies with the potential to do so. EyeBio is a perfect example. Its clinical programmes have the potential to disrupt the ophthalmology space and provide novel therapeutics for patients,” said Kate Bingham, SV Managing Partner and Chair of EyeBio’s Board of Directors, “MSD is a fantastic partner and we are delighted that EyeBio represents the third SV portfolio company to have been bought by the firm recently.”
The acquisition follows the publication of highly compelling 12-week clinical data which revealed that EyeBio’s lead asset, Restoret™, is able to deliver major reductions in excess retinal thickness (80%) and a mean vision gain of 11.2 letters when used to treat patients with diabetic macular edema (DME). Restoret™ is an investigational, potentially first-in-class tetravalent, tri-specific antibody agonist and is scheduled to advance into a pivotal Phase 2b/3 trial for the treatment of patients with DME in the third quarter of 2024.
“EyeBio’s transatlantic team have done an excellent job of delivering quick, high impact clinical trials,” said Mike Ross PhD, SV Senior Partner and EyeBio Board Member, “It has been a great pleasure to support and work closely with David and Tony again on both preclinical and clinical development of the Company’s two assets which SV helped in-license and I look forward to staying close as the team continue their work partnered with MSD.”
“It has been an honour to work with David and Tony to create EyeBio and I am delighted that our work has culminated in the Company reaching this fantastic milestone,” said Alex Badamchi-Zadeh PhD, SV Senior Associate and EyeBio Board Observer, “This acquisition gets us closer to ensuring a major unmet patient need is met.”
Under the terms of the agreement, MSD, through a subsidiary, will acquire all outstanding shares of EyeBio for up to $3bn, including an upfront payment of $1.3bn in cash and a further potential $1.7bn in milestone payments. The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the EyeBio Board of Directors including SV’s representatives Kate Bingham (Chair) and Mike Ross.
About SV Health Investors
SV Health Investors is a leading healthcare fund manager committed to investing in tomorrow’s healthcare breakthroughs. The SV funds invest across stages, geographic regions, and sectors, with expertise spanning biotechnology, dementia, medical devices, healthcare growth and healthcare technology. With approximately $2bn in assets under management and a truly transatlantic presence with offices in Boston and London, SV has built an extensive network of talented investment professionals and experienced industry veterans. Since its founding in 1993, SV has invested in, created and built more than 200 companies attracting global talent, entrepreneurs and pharma partners. To date, these investments have resulted in the licensing of 26 novel drugs and six new drug classes able to treat indications with unmet medical needs and deliver positive impact to patients.
For more information, please see www.svhealthinvestors.com.
About EyeBio (Eyebiotech Limited)
Eyebiotech Limited (EyeBio) is a clinical-stage, privately held ophthalmology biotechnology company dedicated to developing and delivering a new generation of therapies to protect, restore, and improve vision in patients with sight-threatening eye diseases. Founded in August 2021 by David Guyer, MD, and Tony Adamis, MD, and SV Health Investors EyeBio has a leadership team with a world class track record in ophthalmology drug development. With operations in the United States and the United Kingdom, EyeBio is building and advancing a pipeline of ocular therapies that combine scientifically robust targets with innovative translational approaches. For more information, please see www.eyebiotech.com.
About MSD
At MSD, known as Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA in the United States and Canada, we are unified around our purpose: We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. For more than 130 years, we have brought hope to humanity through the development of important medicines and vaccines. We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world – and today, we are at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. We foster a diverse and inclusive global workforce and operate responsibly every day to enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future for all people and communities. For more information, visit www.msd.com and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
