Image credit: Composite of images from Science Corporation
Science Corporation, headquartered in Alameda CA, announced the close of an oversubscribed $230 million Series C financing round. This financing brings the company’s total capital raised to approximately $490 million since its founding in 2021.
According to the press release:
“The funds will accelerate the commercialization of Science’s brain-computer interface (BCI) retinal implant, PRIMA. In clinical trials, PRIMA was the only treatment to successfully restore form vision to patients blinded by late-stage macular degeneration. The PRIMA trial results were featured in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and on the cover of Time.
The capital will also support the expansion of the company’s research, manufacturing, and operational infrastructure, as well as the continued advancement of its state-of-the-art Biohybrid neural interface technology and Vessel perfusion platform.
With the expected commercial launch of PRIMA later this year in Europe, Science will be the first BCI company with a vision restoration product in the market.”
The PRIMA Implant has 378 light-powered pixels that convert infrared light, sent by a pair of glasses, into signals that activate neurons in the retina. These glasses have a front-facing camera and an eye-facing infrared projector that shines light precisely on the PRIMA Implant. When infrared light shines on a pixel it powers an electrode that stimulates the small part of the retina in direct contact with the electrode.