Ascendis Pharma Forms New Ophthalmology Company Eyconis
Ascendis Pharma A/S announced the formation and launch of Eyconis, a company created to develop, manufacture, and commercialize TransCon ophthalmology assets globally. The new company was developed with Frazier Life Sciences, as well as an investor syndicate that includes RA Capital Management, venBio, and HealthQuest Capital.
Ascendis Pharma has granted Eyconis exclusive rights to develop and commercialize TransCon ophthalmology products globally and received an equity position in the newly formed company. In addition, Ascendis will be eligible to receive development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments of up to $248 million, plus single digit royalties on global net sales of commercialized products, if any. Eyconis will initially be based in Redwood City, California, and certain employees of Ascendis are expected to join the newly formed company.
Eyconis is led by ophthalmology industry veteran, Emmett Cunningham, MD, PhD, MPH, Senior Partner at HealthQuest Capital, who joins Eyconis as Executive Chairman; and biopharmaceutical executive Oliver Boris Stauch, who joins Eyconis as Chief Operating Officer after serving previously as Head of Ophthalmology at Ascendis Pharma.
“The opportunity for Eyconis is tremendous, given the acknowledged need for improved ophthalmology treatments, particularly in wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular edema (DME), retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and geographic atrophy (GA),” Dr. Cunningham said in a company news release. “We believe the TransCon technology platform will be the first to achieve long-acting and effective delivery of multiple clinically validated biologics—which together constitute the most commonly used therapies for the major causes of retinal blindness. With the expertise of the Eyconis team and access to TransCon technology, we believe Eyconis is well-positioned to develop innovative, best-in-class therapies for retinal disease.”
In addition to Dr. Cunningham, Daniel Estes, PhD, and Anna Chen, PhD, from Frazier; Conrad Wang, MD, from HealthQuest Capital; and Yvonne Yamanaka, PhD, from venBio have joined the board in connection with the financing. Ascendis has the right to designate one individual to the board.
“Through partnership with experts who have significant knowledge and deep experience in ophthalmology, we have an opportunity to apply our unique TransCon technology platform to develop new treatment options to address large unmet medical needs beyond our core focus in endocrinology rare disease,” said Jan Mikkelsen, Ascendis Pharma’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “The formation of Eyconis is a great example of how we are working to leverage the broad potential of TransCon in new therapeutic areas to create value for patients, shareholders and society.”