SpyGlass Pharma announced it has closed on $75 million in Series D financing to support the continued advancement of its long-term drug delivery platform for glaucoma.
First up: SpyGlass.
Operating out of California, the privately held ophthalmic biotech company is developing novel treatments for chronic ophthalmic diseases such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataract, and chronic uveitis.
The focus for these treatments: Long-term drug delivery.
And the basis for them: The SpyGlass Pharma Drug Delivery Platform.
Before we get into that, talk about this financing.
The financing round was led by Sands Capital—an independent, staff-owned, long-term, and global investor headquartered in Washington, D.C.—an pre-existing SpyGlass investors such as:
The intent: For the funds to be used toward the continued development of that aforementioned platform, including the readout of two registrational phase 3 trials.
- See here for details on its previous funding round of $90 million in 2023.
Alrighty, now a rundown on the platform.
Referred to as the “first and only controlled-release drug delivery platform for all cataract surgeons,” SpyGlass’s platform is comprised of:
- A single-piece, hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lens (IOL)
- Two drug-eluting pads
- These act as “bladders” to slide over each haptic and securely attach to the IOL at the haptic junction
And how does it work?
The pads are attached to the IOL, and both are loaded into a standard IOL injector and implanted directly into the capsular bag during cataract surgery (via a standard surgical technique).
- To note: The lens is injected through a sub 2.4 mm incision.
Following this: The drug pads remain positioned outside the visual axis and proceed to continuously elute treatment into the aqueous humor (which carries the active drug to the targeted tissues).
- See here for a visual of this in action.
What kind of treatment is eluted, exactly?
At the moment: A daily release of bimatoprost to target glaucoma management.
- Why this: As a prostaglandin analog (PGA) typically used as a first-line treatment for glaucoma (and ocular hypertension [OHT]), this is known for its IOP-lowering effects—as well as a superior efficacy versus other PGAs.
Beyond bimatoprost: The company stated that its drug-eluting pads are also “uniquely designed to deliver additional drugs to address multiple ophthalmic conditions”—such as those we mentioned earlier.
- However, all other potential drugs are currently in either the discovery or preclinical phase of development.
And how long does the sustained delivery last?
SpyGlass’s current focus is on achieving 3 years of extended delivery.
Gotcha. So how’s that going thus far?
It’s an ongoing clinical journey.
Most recently: The company reported 18-month data from a first-in-human (FIH) study evaluating the platform for its sustained-release delivery of bimatoprost (in three varying doses) for patients with visually-significant cataract and concomitant (mild-to-moderate) open-angle glaucoma (OAG) and OHT.
- While the 3-year trial is ongoing, the April 2025 findings demonstrated “statistically significant improvements in visual outcomes” at the halfway point.
Expand on that, please.
For vision improvements: Compared to a baseline preop range of 20/30 to 20/100, patients’ 18-month postop range progressed to 20/16 to 20/30.
And for IOP reductions: Patients’ 18-month postop IOP was 14.1 ± 2.6 mmHg (p < 0.0001)
- Compare this to their baseline post-washout IOP of 25.1 ± 2.5 mmHg
See here for more findings—as well as the previous 6-month data.
This sounds promising so far …
Indeed. And we have more clinical findings to look forward to in the near future, as SpyGlass previously announced (in November 2024) the enrollment completion of a phase 1/2 randomized, multicenter, controlled trial (NCT06120842).
- Dubbed “Tigris,” this study is evaluating OHT and OAG patients when treated with the SpyGlass platform (plus a low or high dose of bimatoprost) compared to timolol maleate ophthalmic solution, USP, 0.05%.
- The study is expected to conclude in November 2027.
What about those phase 3 trials you mentioned earlier?
Not much to report on those at the moment.
As the company reported plans for both studies to “begin later this year,” we anticipate more information will be shared in the coming months.
So, as always, stay tuned!