At the end of March, JAMA Ophthalmology’s publication of first results from the NIH-sponsored, 328-patient trial with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s VEGF inhibitor, Eylea (aflibercept), in non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy bolstered investor hopes for wider use. But competitors loom for the compound, first approved in November 2011 for wet age-related macular degeneration.

RNA therapy developer Proqr Therapeutics NV’s phase I/II study of adults with Usher syndrome and non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa met all its key objectives, prompting the company to plan two parallel pivotal phase II/III studies that could start by year-end. The company wasted no time as it has already discussed next steps with the FDA to support the therapy’s registration “as soon as possible,” Aniz Girach, Proqr’s chief medical officer, told investors during a March 24 investor call.

Aura Biosciences Inc., a company developing a virus-like drug conjugate (VDC) for the potential treatment of a type of rare ocular cancer, has closed an oversubscribed $80 million financing.

Chinese eye disease specialist Arctic Vision Biotechnology Co. Ltd. raised more than $100 million in a series B financing round. The clinical-stage company will use the funds to initiate a phase III trial for its core asset, ARVN-001 (triamcinolone acetonide suprachoroidal injectable suspension), for uveitic macular edema in China this year.

LONDON – Oxular Ltd. has raised $37 million in a series B, enabling the company to take OXU-001, its long-acting treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME) into phase II development later this year.