Medical Venture Capital Round Brings in $8.5 million to Ophthalmic Medical Device Company

 A regulatory filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission shows that ophthalmic medical device company Ocular Therapeutix has raised $8.5 million.

In January, the company, founded in 2006, closed a $23.6 million funding round from investors including  Polaris Ventures, Versant Ventures, SV Life Sciences, Sparta LLC, and Ascension Health Ventures

The Bedford, Massachusetts company has filed a PMA for its ReSure Sealant, based on its proprietary hydrogel technology, which is put in the eye of patients following cataract or intra ocular lens placement surgery. The company believes it is a better alternative to sutures and evaluated the product on 488 patients in a randomized trial enrolled at 24 medical centers in the U.S. That data was presented to the FDA in February as part of a PMA application.

On its website, the company describe the ReSure Sealant as a "synthetic, biocompatible hydrogel that creates a temporary, soft and lubricious surface barrier to protect clear corneal incisions in the immediate post-operative period when wounds are most vulnerable."

The company has also developed drug-eluting punctum plugs that are also being tested.

-- By Arundhati Parmar, Senior Editor, MD+DI