A biotech company with a product that helps to heal eye injuries and could revolutionise treatment of other wounds has raised a further £1.8m.
Nottingham-based NuVision Biotherapies has secured funding from the MEIF Proof of Concept and Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and is part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, Mercia’s EIS funds, Newable Ventures and private investors.
The latest funding round – the fourth to date – brings the total raised by the company to almost £5m and will allow it to expand sales and carry out further clinical trials in the run-up to a Series A investment in 2022.
NuVision’s technology harnesses the healing properties of amniotic membrane, the sac that surrounds babies in the womb and is normally discarded at birth. Created using its proprietary manufacturing process, its first product Omnigen is already used in eye surgery to help heal wounds faster.
The company’s latest innovation, OmniLenz, is a ‘bandage contact lens’ which allows Omnigen to be applied without surgery in outpatient clinics to treat a wider range of conditions. It is currently being trialled by Aston University for use in dry eye disease, which affects over 5 million people in the UK and is the most common cause of visits to eye care practitioners.
NuVision’s technology also has potential to treat other wounds, in particular diabetic foot ulcers, which are a growing problem that affects over 10 million people worldwide. NuVision, a University of Nottingham spin-out company, was founded in 2015 by its CSO, Dr Andy Hopkinson, to commercialise his research.
