Sight Sciences Targets $160.5 Million IPO

It plans to trade under the SGHT ticker symbol.

Sight Sciences, headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., announced pricing on its initial public offering (IPO). It is hoping to raise up to $160.54 million by offering 6.98 million shares with a price between $20 and $23 per share. It plans to trade under the SGHT ticker symbol.

The company plans to use the funds raised to advance clinical trials for OMNI® and TearCare®, as well as sales and marketing and research and development expenses. The IPO would give the company, which focuses on ophthalmology and optometry, a market value of $971.7 million.

The Omni Surgical System is a hand-held, single-use device to assist in draining fluids from the eye to decrease intraocular pressure in glaucoma. The device is also able to deliver a viscoelastic material via a microcatheter that can enlarge the canals in the eye to relieve pressure. The viscoelastic fluids are products such as Abbott Medical Optics’ Healon® or HealonGV®, Bausch + Lomb’s Amvisc®, or Alcon’s Provisc®, which are used during ophthalmic surgery. Glaucoma is a family of eye conditions that can damage the optic nerve and potentially lead to blindness. The damage is caused by abnormally high pressure in the eye.

The TearCare system is a nonsurgical device that is worn over the eyelid when a warm compress is called for. It creates localized heat to treat dry eye in addition to gland dysfunction. These indications include Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), dry eye, or blepharitis.

In March 2020, Sight Sciences closed on a Series E financing round worth more than $30 million. It was led by D1 Capital Partners.

“Sight Sciences has introduced two technologies that have fundamentally improved how physicians can treat two of the most prevalent eye diseases,” said James Rogers, analyst at D1 Capital Partners, at the time of the raise. “In minimally invasive glaucoma surgery the safety, efficacy and versatility of the OMNI device is unmatched. Additionally, we feel the early success with the commercialization of TearCare suggests this innovative and effective solution has addressed the shortfalls of previous dry eye treatments and modalities for this common ailment.”

Sight Sciences was founded in 2011. In the 12 months ending March 31, 2021, it reported $30 million in sales. It also reported a net loss in the first quarter of $12.2 million on revenue of $8.6 million. A year ago in the same period, it reported a loss of $9.2 million on revenue of $6.5 million. It has estimated the market size for glaucoma to be $6 billion and $10 billion for dry eye disease. According to Crunchbase, total funding up to this point has totaled $108.7 million.

Sight’s founder and chief executive officer is Paul Badawi, co-inventor of the OMNI Surgical System, VISCO360 Viscosurgical System, TRAB360 Trabeculotomy System, Helix Microstent and TearCare System. David Badawi is founder and chief technology officer, and co-invented the products with Paul Badawi. The company’s chief financial officer is Jesse Selnick; Shawn O’Neil is chief commercial officer; Reay H. Brown, M.D. is chief medical officer; Aaron Capsel is vice president of sales and business operations; Kavita Dhamdhere is vice president clinical development; and Jamie Dickerson is vice president strategic clinical evidence.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC