Ascendis, Frazier Life Sciences Launch New Ophthalmology Company - Eyconis

Ascendis Pharma has formed a strategic partnership with Frazier Life Sciences to establish Eyconis, Inc., an independent company dedicated to advancing TransCon ophthalmology assets on a global scale. The investor consortium supporting Eyconis includes Frazier, RA Capital Management, venBio, and HealthQuest Capital.

Ascendis Pharma has granted Eyconis exclusive global rights for the development and commercialization of TransCon ophthalmology products. In return, Ascendis receives an equity position in the newly formed company.

Additionally, Ascendis is eligible for potential development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments amounting to $248 million, along with single-digit royalties on global net sales of any commercialized products. Eyconis is poised to have its headquarters in Redwood City, California, with select Ascendis employees expected to join the new venture.

Leading Eyconis is ophthalmology industry veteran Dr. Emmett Cunningham, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, Senior Partner at HealthQuest Capital, who serves as Executive Chairman. Oliver Boris Stauch, an experienced biopharmaceutical executive and former Head of Ophthalmology at Ascendis Pharma, joins Eyconis as Chief Operating Officer.

Dr. Cunningham highlighted Eyconis' significant opportunity in addressing unmet needs in ophthalmology, focusing on conditions such as wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular edema (DME), retinal vein occlusion (RVO), and geographic atrophy (GA). He expressed confidence in the TransCon technology platform's potential to revolutionize the delivery of clinically validated biologics, addressing major causes of retinal blindness. With the combination of Eyconis' expertise and access to TransCon technology, the company aims to develop innovative, best-in-class therapies for retinal diseases.

Board members joining Eyconis in connection with financing include Daniel Estes, Ph.D., and Anna Chen, Ph.D., from Frazier, Conrad Wang, M.D., from HealthQuest Capital, and Yvonne Yamanaka, Ph.D., from venBio. Ascendis retains the right to designate one individual to the board.

“Through partnership with experts who have significant knowledge and deep experience in ophthalmology, we have an opportunity to apply our unique TransCon technology platform to develop new treatment options to address large unmet medical needs beyond our core focus in endocrinology rare disease,” said Jan Mikkelsen, Ascendis Pharma’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “The formation of Eyconis is a great example of how we are working to leverage the broad potential of TransCon in new therapeutic areas to create value for patients, shareholders and society.”