Dopavision is a Berlin-based company developing digital therapeutics for myopia. Nearsightedness (myopia) is a vision condition in which patients can see objects near to them clearly, but objects farther away are blurry.
Dopavision raises Series A round
In a recent development, the company announced that it has raised €12M in its Series A round of funding. The round was led by Seventure Partners and was joined by Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
In addition, Dopavision’s existing investors such as Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Ababax Health also invested in this round.
The company has raised total funding of €14.7M in private equity and public grants and is supported by the German government via the “Industrie-in-Klinik” program of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF.
Myopia – a global public health concern
According to the company, Myopia is recognised as a public health concern around the world as it causes visual impairment, and is expected to reach a global prevalence of 50 per cent by 2050. Its condition manifests blurring of digital objects due to image focusing in front of the retina instead of falling on the retina, most often caused by excessive elongation of the eyeball during growth.
Dopavision’s goal is to develop a clinically validated therapy to halt myopia progression in children and adolescents.
What does Dopavision offer?
Founded in 2017 by Hamed Bahmani and Stefan Zundel, Dopavision helps control myopia by providing transformative treatments and addressing the disease at an early stage, providing medical benefits for later years of life.
With its lead product, MyopiaX, the company is developing a therapeutic for childhood myopia that can be invisibly integrated into the use of a smartphone.
According to co-founder Dr. Hamed Bahmani, “The extensive use of smartphones is suspected to worsen childhood myopia but stopping children from using them is unrealistic. Therefore, we have decided to transform the use of digital devices into a beneficial therapeutic activity. Our first-of-its-kind MyopiaX combines ease of use with an exciting user experience that promotes adherence to the therapy with the goal of addressing this serious medical condition already at a young age.”
Technology to fix Myopia
According to a statement, Dopavision targets children and young adolescents, leveraging a light-based technology that stimulates specific photosensitive cells of the retina, which in turn modulate retinal dopamine, a key neurotransmitter involved in eye growth.
Dopavision claims that its product, MyopiaX, has the potential to become the first digital therapy to control childhood myopia. It is designed to achieve a medical effect while children play exciting games or use educational digital content and can be conveniently integrated into their daily routine. It runs on standard digital devices and is easy to use for children under minimal supervision of their parents.
How will the funds be utilised?
The raised capital from this round will help Dopavision to fund the clinical development of MyopiaX. In addition, the company is also planning to demonstrate its safety and efficacy in clinical studies and advance this treatment to market.
Moreover, the funding will also help Dopavision to further develop its product activities in order to provide digital treatments for children leveraging games, educational or cognitive training applications. The company also intends to use this capital to continue recruitment.
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