iVeena secures $2 million NEI SBIR grant to advance pediatric myopia therapy

iVeena Delivery Systems has been awarded a $2 million phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The funding will help to advance development of novel topical eye drops being investigated to control pediatric myopia and other refractive disorders.

Sarah Molokhia, PhD, vice president of R&D at iVeena and adjunct assistant professor in the department of molecular pharmaceutics at the University of Utah, stated in a press release, “The NEI has been extremely supportive of our research, and we are very grateful for their continued partnership. This grant allows us to advance our program and better understand how our proprietary eye drops may transform the treatment of pediatric myopia.”

iVeena’s investigational therapy, IVMED-85, is a preservative-free prescription eye drop designed to prevent myopia progression in children. It is a non-surgical, non-invasive, non-atropine daily eye drop that strengthens scleral and corneal collagen crosslinks through LOX activation, potentially leading to improved refraction and a decrease in the rate of axial elongation.

Currently myopia affects more than 20 million children in the United States, and global prevalence is expected to exceed 3 billion people by 2030. Additionally, no FDA-approved pharmacologic therapies currently exist to date to slow myopia progression.

The company submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for IVMED-85 for the treatment of pediatric myopia in June of this year.

President and founder Bala Ambati, MD, PhD, MBA, commented on the submission, saying, “[This] announcement is an important milestone for iVeena in our journey to offer patients a novel therapeutic option. I am extremely proud of the remarkable commitment of the team at iVeena and look forward to initiating our multinational phase 2 study in the coming months.”

References:

1. iVeena Awarded $2 Million National Eye Institute Grant to Advance Novel Therapy for Pediatric Myopia. Published September 18, 2025. Accessed September 18, 2025. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250918460161/en/iVeena-Awarded-%242-Million-National-Eye-Institute-Grant-to-Advance-Novel-Therapy-for-Pediatric-Myopia

2. iVeena Announces IND Submission to the U.S. FDA for a Phase 2 Clinical Trial for Pediatric Myopia. June 2, 2025. Accessed September 18, 2025. https://iveenamed.com/news/iveena-announces-ind-submission-to-the-u-s-fda-for-a-phase-2-clinical-trial-for-pediatric-myopia