On October 21, 2020, SparingVision, a genomic medicine company focused on ocular diseases, announced a €44.5 million financing round. The round was led by 4BIO Capital and UPMC Enterprises, and included Jeito Capital and Ysios Capital. In addition, current investors Bpifrance and Foundation Fighting Blindness participated in the round.

Proceeds from the financing will be primarily used to advance the development of SparingVision’s breakthrough treatment SPVN06 for the mutation-agnostic treatment of retinitis pigmentosa. Most notably, the funding will support SparingVision’s GMP activities (including the manufacturing of a first clinical batch of the product, currently ongoing), the IND/CTA regulatory activities, and the conduct of a first-in-man study, scheduled to start in 2021.

The Wilson Sonsini teams that advised SparingVision in the transaction include the patent team of Michael Hostetler, Greg Mitchell, and Brett Zirkle, and the technology transactions team of Lauren Wardle and Miranda Biven.