Court Orders Second Sight to Pay Pixium $1.68M

Pixium Vision said that a Paris Commercial Court has ordered Second Sight, now known as Vivani, to pay $1.68 million in costs and damages for breaching contractual obligations.

The dispute stems from Paris -based Pixium terminating a planned merger with Second Sight Medical in 2021. The reason behind the termination was because Second Sight took out a $27.9 million private placement, which Pixium said violated a memorandum of understanding between the two.

Pixium said it was pleased with the decision in a release. The court's decision is subject to appeal. 

The decision is another chapter in the long-standing battle between the two companies. It also comes nearly a year after another significant milestone in Second Sight’s history.

In February, Second Sight announced it was merging with Nano Precision Medical. The merger closed in August and it was announced the merged company would be called Vivani.

Second Sight contributed about $55 million in cash to advance the development of Vivani’s portfolio, which included lead asset NPM-119 (exenatide implant), into clinical-stage development for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes and to identify and execute strategic options to advance its clinical-stage Orion visual prosthetic device to treat individuals with blindness due to a wide range of underlying causes.

This merger seemingly gave solid clarity to Second Sight’s trajectory as it had once been in question. At the beginning of the pandemic, Second Sight was in a tough position and said it was “winding down”– laying off 84 of its 108 employees. During that time, the company even went as far as announcing it would auction off its assets.