Azu­ra Oph­thalmics gets a $20M boost for its R&D work on eye dis­eases

Three years af­ter clos­ing a $16 mil­lion Se­ries B, the same group of in­vestors are back to give Azu­ra Oph­thalmics a $20 mil­lion boost.

That brings the Tel Aviv-Yafo, Is­rael-based biotech’s to­tal fundraise to $38 mil­lion, and should pave the way for a reg­is­tra­tion study of its lead can­di­date in Mei­bo­mi­an gland dys­func­tion (MGD) and re­lat­ed eye dis­eases, CEO Marc Glee­son told End­points News.

The top­i­cal can­di­date, dubbed AZR-MD-001, is de­signed to ad­dress ab­nor­mal hy­per­k­er­a­tiniza­tion, or the build-up and shed­ding of pro­teins at the open­ing of or with­in the Mei­bo­mi­an gland. When Mei­bo­mi­an glands be­come dys­func­tion­al, rapid evap­o­ra­tion of the tear film can oc­cur, lead­ing to dry eye dis­ease.

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