ZUG, Switzerland and BOSTON—Oculis Holding AG (Nasdaq: OCS), a global biopharmaceutical company, announced yesterday the pricing of a follow-on public offering of 3,500,000 ordinary shares at a public offering price of $11.50 per ordinary share, for gross proceeds of $40.25 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses. In addition, Oculis has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 525,000 ordinary shares on the same terms and conditions.

The offering is expected to close on or about June 5, 2023, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The company is "purposefully driven to save sight and improve eyecare." It said it intends to use the net proceeds from this offering, together with its existing resources, to advance its development programs in diabetic macular edema and other ophthalmic indications, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

BofA Securities and SVB Securities are acting as joint book-running managers for this offering. Wedbush PacGrow, Baird, H.C. Wainwright & Co. and Pareto Securities are acting as co-managers for the offering. Arctica Finance is acting as financial advisor for the offering.

A registration statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-272256) relating to the securities referred to herein has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and was declared effective by the SEC on May 31, 2023. The securities referred to in this press release will be offered in the U.S. only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus related to this offering may be obtained, when available, from the underwriters and the SEC's website here.

In April 2023 Oculis reported the opening of its Boston, Mass. office, expanding its U.S. presence in preparation of becoming an active player in the U.S. market and demonstrating execution of its strategy. The new office serves "as a strategic location for Oculis to support its U.S .operations in anticipation of important near-term clinical and late-stage data milestones such as results from Stage 1 of the Company’s Phase 3 DIAMOND study of OCS-01 in DME and the Phase 3 OPTIMIZE study of OCS-01 in Inflammation and Pain following cataract surgery later this year."

The expansion of Oculis’ presence in the U.S. accompanies the recent strengthening of its finance and development team. This includes the hiring of Dr. Fang Li as the new U.S.-based senior vice president, Regulatory Affairs. Dr. Li brings over 25 years of drug development experience to Oculis, having worked in regulatory affairs for over 20 years with leading ophthalmology companies such as Novartis, Alcon and Bausch + Lomb, among others.

She has extensive experience with health authority interactions, FDA advisory committee meeting preparation, and building and leading regulatory teams and a proven success record in gaining product approvals in the U.S. and other regions, the company said. Throughout her career, she successfully led numerous FDA drug approvals in ophthalmology including for Jetrea, Lotemax Ointment, Systane Complete and worked on several other ophthalmology drug products such as Beovu, Lotemax Gel, Besivance and Vyzulta.

Oculis announced its public listing on the Nasdaq Exchange in March 2023.

Oculis’ highly differentiated clinical-stage pipeline comprises multiple innovative product candidates in development for eye diseases of high unmet medical need. It includes OCS-01 eye drops, a topical candidate in Phase 3 development for diabetic macular edema (DME) and inflammation and pain following ocular surgery; OCS-02 eye drops, a topical biologic candidate in Phase 2b development for dry eye disease (DED) and uveitis; and OCS-05, a disease modifying candidate for acute optic neuritis (AON) and other neuro-ophthalmic disorders, such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, geographic atrophy and neurotrophic keratitis.

The first in-patient, proof-of-concept trial with OCS-05 is currently ongoing in France.