‘Bionic eye’ companies Pixium Vision and Second Sight have joined forces to consolidate their efforts to restore vision. The combined entity is expected to create easier access to capital, facilitating and accelerating technological and clinical development to bring both organisations’ transformative technologies to patients, the companies said in a joint statement.  

Pixium Vision’s Prima System, which started its European trial in 2020, has the potential to significantly restore visual perception, improve quality of life and restore a level of independence for people with dry age-related macular degeneration; while Second Sight, the leader in implantable neuromodulation devices to treat blindness, has created Argus II, the world’s first FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) and CE (Conformitè Europëenne) Mark-approved device for artificial vision in people with late-stage retinitis pigmentosa. Second Sight is also developing Orion, a cortical stimulation device bypassing the diseased eye, providing a new form of vision. 

As part of the transaction, a new subsidiary will be created to focus on cortical stimulation through Orion. “The Orion platform has the potential to treat nearly all forms of blindness,” said Matt Pfeffer, Second Sight CEO. “The new organisation should accelerate the Orion development.” 

For more on bionic eyes, see https://eyeonoptics.co.nz/articles/archive/bionic-eyes-no-longer-science-fiction/