Pixium Vision SA announced it has launched a “tender process” for potential buyers to acquire the company.
Refresh me on Pixium.
Established in 2011 and headquartered in Paris, France, Pixium Vision is a bioelectronics and machine brain interface technology company developing bionic vision systems to enable partial visual perception for patients who might have experienced vision loss.
Any notable technology?
Yes!
The company’s novel Prima Bionic Vision System designed to partially restore vision in patients with outer retinal degeneration (initially dry age-related macular degeneration [AMD]) was actually granted Breakthrough Device Designation by the FDA earlier this year.
See our coverage here.
Talk more about this vision system.
Digging further into the details, the Prima Bionic Vision System is designed to partially replace the normal biological function of the photoreceptor cells through electrical stimulation of the nerve cells within the inner retina, which in turn transmits visual information to the brain via the optic nerve.
The minimally invasive, subretinal implant includes three main components: a wireless retinal implant, a pair of glasses with a camera and digital projector, and a pocket processor.
To note, the system is currently undergoing a feasibility study in France (NCT03333954) that has, so far, reported positive data, as well as a U.S.-based feasibility trial (NCT03392324) slated to conclude in December 2025. See more details of the study here.
Sounds like a lot of movement … so why the need for a buyer?
Per Pixium, the company has been, “unable to find financial investors within a restricted timeframe and in line with the company’s needs.”
As a result, “it’s requesting the conversion of safeguard proceedings into receivership.”
Explain this.
Safeguard proceedings are restructuring tools that provide a business in financial debt with the opportunity to essentially buy time to develop a “rescue plan” (such as finding a buyer).
Examples include:
- Debt restructuring
- Recapitalism of the company
- Debt-for-equity swap
- Sale of assets
- Partial sale of business
To note, these proceedings do not include selling the entire business. Thus, that’s where the receivership comes into play.
Go on…
A receivership is a court-appointed solution to aid a company with recovering funds that are in default, mitigating the need to file for bankruptcy.
In this case, Pixium Vision will have an independent “receiver” to manage all areas of its business, with the ultimate goal of finding a new buyer to return to profitability.
Is there a new time frame?
Indeed there is.
Deadline for offer submissions—set by court-appointed administrators—is November 20, 2023 at 12 pm CET (Central European Time).
What happens if they don’t find a buyer?
Ask us again on November 21, 2023. Stay tuned!