Arctic Vision, a China-based clinical-stage ophthalmology company focused on developing innovative therapies for pan-ocular diseases, today announced the completion of over US$100 million Series B financing. The Series B round was led by Loyal Valley Capital, with participation from Tencent, Octagon Capital, and Dr. Adrian Cheng, renowned entrepreneur from New World Development Group, along with existing investors Nan Fung Life Sciences, Pivotal bioVenture Partners China and Morningside Ventures. The proceeds will continue to support the progress of Arctic Vision's pipeline, including clinical developments, registrational activities, and commercialization; as well as the establishment of in-house R&D capabilities; business development, and organizational growth.
Arctic Vision currently has three late-stage in-licensed products: ARVN001 for uveitic macular edema (UME), ARVN002 for pediatric progressive myopia and ARVN003 for presbyopia. In particular, ARVN001 obtained Investigational New Drug (IND) approval for UME in China in December 2020, and the company expects to begin Phase 3 clinical trials this year. The IND applications for ARVN002 and ARVN003 are on track as well. In addition, Arctic Vision aims to take a number of novel assets into the clinical trial this year, deepening its in-house R&D and clinical development capabilities.
Dr. Eddy Wu, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of Arctic Vision, commented: "Since inception, Arctic Vision has focused on identifying the most novel ocular therapies globally. Over the past year, we have successfully licensed in three innovative products with proprietary technology platforms, as well as achieved rapid clinical progress across our assets, due to the dedication of our highly experienced talent team and advisors. We are confident to leverage the proceeds from this financing round to further accelerate the clinical development of our pipeline assets and enhance commercialization capabilities, thus organically combining our in-house R&D efforts with external technologies to deliver safe and efficacious clinical solutions to patients. At the same time, we look forward to expanding our focus and attention to other countries in Asia, with the aim of addressing the unmet medical needs of even more patients across the region."
Mr. Roy Xie, Partner at Loyal Valley Capital, said: "We are delighted to support Arctic Vision's highly promising pipeline development initiatives. Ophthalmology is one of the most competitive therapeutic areas in global drug development and there is an enormous number of opportunities in this field. We strongly resonate with Arctic Vision's vision and development strategy, which is market-oriented and innovation-driven: to identify innovative ophthalmology products that fit the specific needs of the China market through our profound knowledge of the market. ARVN003, potentially the first pharmaceutical treatment for presbyopia in China, and ARVN002, a revolutionary solution for pediatric progressive myopia, are perfect examples of this. Arctic Vision has made substantial progress during the past year, and we will maintain our support of the company to bring more innovative therapies to patients suffering from eye diseases as quickly as possible."
Regarding this investment, Mrs. Dianna Qian, Partner at Pivotal bioVenture Partners China, expressed, "The reason Pivotal bioVenture Partners and our parent company Nan Fung Life Sciences have sequentially participated in the seed, Series A and Series B financing rounds of Arctic Vision is that we have strong confidence in its management team and its growth trajectory since establishment. In just less than a year, the clinical development of the company's pipeline assets has advanced in a structured and rapid manner; the product portfolio has also expanded steadily, demonstrating the strong execution capabilities of the management team. In the upcoming year, we look forward to seeing the company achieve more opportunities to internationalize, scale up organizational presence, and gradually become a model in the ophthalmology sector, within China and even across Asia.
About Arctic Vision
Arctic Vision is a China-based clinical stage specialty ophthalmology company with a leading portfolio of breakthrough technologies. The Company's vision is to address unmet medical needs in opht...
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