Eyestem Research Private

The inspiration for Eyestem emerged when CEO Dr. Jogin Desai, an expert in drug development with prior leadership roles at Quintiles and Cenduit, met Dr. Rajani Battu, a seasoned vitreo-retinal surgeon. Dr. Battu's introduction to patients suffering from incurable degenerative eye diseases highlighted the significant unmet need, particularly for conditions like dry Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in individuals over 50. This encounter led to the formation of Eyestem, uniting Dr. Desai's business and clinical trial acumen with the scientific expertise of Dr. Battu (CMO), Dr. Sareen, a specialist in iPSC-based disease models, and Dr. Pal (Chief Scientist), an expert in stem cells and regenerative medicine.

Eyestem’s flagship product, Eyecyte-RPE, is an allogeneic cell therapy for treating Geographic Atrophy (GA), a late-stage form of dry AMD. This product consists of a suspension of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). The therapy is designed to replace damaged RPE cells in the retina, potentially arresting and even reversing vision loss. Eyecyte-RPE is formulated as a cryopreserved product that can be stored for long periods, facilitating scalability. The Phase 1/2a clinical trial, conducted in India, demonstrated a strong safety profile with no serious adverse events and showed significant vision improvement in patients, with an average gain of 14.9 letters on standard vision tests. Following these positive results, the company is advancing to a Phase 2 trial in India and preparing for an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. FDA.

The company has successfully raised a total of $19.9M over several funding rounds. A significant Series A round in August 2022 raised $6.4 million from major Indian pharmaceutical companies including Biological E, Alkem Laboratories, and NATCO Pharma. More recently, in August 2025, Eyestem closed an oversubscribed $10 million Series B round to fund its clinical advancement and global expansion plans. The company has established numerous strategic collaborations with institutions like the Singapore Eye Research Institute, Oregon Health and Science University for animal studies, and RetinAI for leveraging artificial intelligence in its clinical trial data management.