‘This could be a large market’: Novo Holdings-backed Claris secures $118M for corneal disease drug

Biotech ‘This could be a large market’: Novo Holdings-backed Claris secures $118M for corneal disease drug By Darren Incorvaia Jul 28, 2026 8:00am Novo Holdings series B eye diseases vision loss A new biotech has come into view with a $118 million series B and a vision for making the front of the eye front-of-mind. Claris Biotherapeutics emerged from stealth Tuesday with designs for a pivotal trial of its rare eye disease candidate CSB-001, an eye drop solution of oremepermin alfa. The company spun out of the Harvard University lab of corneal disease expert Reza Dana, M.D., but found its way to its current form through a clinical failure. The team initially tried to fashion CSB-001 into a treatment for the rare corneal disease neurotrophic keratitis, but the experimental drug didn’t pan out. However, one of the study investigators called the company to let them know the eye drops seemed to help patients with vision loss regain some sight, Claris CEO Stephen Brady told Fierce. “They identified that these patients all had limbal stem cell deficiency,” said Brady, referring to a disease where important regenerative stem cells in the cornea are depleted. Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk, then got involved. Novo Holdings also pitched in for the series B, which was led by Samsara Biocapital and Catalio Capital Management and also features contributions from Adage Capital Management, Sofinnova Investments, Aisling Capital and ADAR1 Capital Management, among others. Claris will use the funds to power a phase 3 trial of CSB-001 that should kick off in the first half of 2027, with data reading out less than two years after that, Brady told Fierce. The biotech is currently recruiting limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) patients into a non-interventional study to better understand the disease’s natural history and provide a pool of subjects who can roll in the phase 3 trial down the line. LSCD can be caused by an acute injury, like a chemical irritant, or be persistent due to inflammation or other chronic causes. While the condition is taught in medical school, Brady explained, physicians currently have no options for therapeutic treatment. Right now, the standard of care is stem cell transplant surgery once vision loss becomes severe. “There are at least 30,000 patients in the U.S. under treatment for LSCD,” said Brady, although he expects there are actually many more. A big focus for Claris moving forward, he added, will be educating providers on how to diagnose the disease and to let them know that CSB-001 is hopefully coming down the pike. Unlike the crowded field of competitors jockeying to develop drugs for diseases of the retina—at the back of the eye—the outward-facing cornea has received relatively little attention, Brady said. “This could be a very large market,” the CEO said. “I think as soon as you show people that, you'll get more investment in other potential front-of-eye diseases.” Claris started with a core team of five, but now boasts more than 25 employees and is currently seeking to establish a physical headquarters, said Brady, who took over as CEO from founder Clarke Atwell on June 15. While currently laser-focused on its phase 3 plans for LSCD, Brady is open to pushing CSB-001 into further indications down the line and even potentially expanding the company’s pipeline, he said, “if we remain independent and have the capital.” Though he recognizes that building a successful company will attract eyeballs of potential buyers, Brady did not come aboard Claris with the intent of flipping the biotech, he said. In fact, the CEO anticipates that Claris will go public before phase 3 data reads out—either via an IPO or a reverse merger. Brady has experience with the latter strategy, serving as CEO of Tempest Therapeutics when it listed on the Nasdaq through a merger with Millendo Therapeutics in 2021. “I don't like to sell things,” Brady said. “I like to build.” Novo Holdings series B eye diseases vision loss venture capital (VC) Venture Capital Biotech