Ocutec receives further equity investment of £500K from existing investors

Jun 3 2010

Ocutec Ltd, the Lanarkshire-based medical devices company, today announced that it had received a further equity investment of £500K from existing investors Discovery Investment Fund Limited, Chimaerabio, Scottish Enterprise Co-investment Fund and company founders. This brings the total raised since January 2007 to £2.5 million and will support further development of Ocutec's PEG Materials Technology, based on original research at Strathclyde University, Glasgow.

“Ocutec has taken world-leading Scottish materials science and is on the verge of turning this into a major product ready for commercialisation. The team have met the milestones set and we are pleased to give them further backing.”

Poly(ethylene) glycol (PEG) is a well-known polymer widely used in medical devices, food packaging, skin care products and injections. Ocutec is initially focused on using PEGs instead of silicone to produce disposable contact lenses. This has the potential to deliver two major advantages - a superior and sustainable all day wearing experience coupled with significantly reduced manufacturing costs. The company has already introduced two CE-marked lenses creating widespread interest and will use the new funds to CE mark a third lens and conduct extensive on-eye testing against competitor products in the clinic.

CEO Wade Tipton commented: "We are delighted in this continued show of support from our key investors. We are already in discussion with several potential commercial partners and the new funding will enable us to prove to their satisfaction our belief that PEGs have the potential to be the standard contact lens material of the future.

ChimaeraBio Partner Jim Reid added: "Ocutec has taken world-leading Scottish materials science and is on the verge of turning this into a major product ready for commercialisation. The team have met the milestones set and we are pleased to give them further backing."