Eyestem secures $10m to advance cell therapy for advanced eye disease
Ella Day | August 13, 2025 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development | Eyestem, Opthalmology, cell therapy, dry age-related macular degeneration, geographic atrophy
Indian cell therapy company, Eyestem Research, has raised $10m in a funding round to support development of its investigational retinal pigment cell therapy, Eyecyte-RPE, for geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
The funding will allow for the completion of an ongoing phase 2 clinical trial in India and preparations for an Investigational New Drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration.
Eyestem Founder and CEO Jogin Desai said: “This $10m will support the next leg of development and strengthen the foundation for global expansion. We continue to prioritise rigorous clinical progress and the capabilities needed to ensure global patient access to this therapy.”
In phase 1 trials – involving subjects with advanced GA and severe vision loss – the therapy demonstrated a favourable safety profile with no serious adverse events. It showed an average improvement of 15.8 letters for six subjects over six months, and 11 letters for the first two subjects after one year.
The upcoming phase 2 study will evaluate safety and efficacy in a larger group of patients with moderate GA. Eyestem has submitted its phase 1 clinical study report to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, India’s regulatory body, and is awaiting approval to begin the trial.
Globally, dry AMD affects around 196 million people, with GA impacting about five million individuals.
Ella Day
13/8/25
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