HiSight Medical Completes New Round of Financing to Advance Comprehensive Glaucoma Care Solutions

VCBeat learned that HSGD (HSGD (Suzhou) Biomedical Technology Co., Ltd.), a leading innovator in glaucoma medical devices in China, has recently completed a new round of financing.This round of financing was led by SEALAND INNOVATION CAPITAL CO.,LTD, with the participation of Suzhou Industrial Park Science and Technology Innovation Fund.. This round of financing is mainly used to advance the company's glaucoma intraocular pressure monitoring product.HSM^®HSGD is gradually forming a full-scenario solution provider centered on glaucoma patients, integrating preoperative screening, intraoperative treatment, and postoperative intraocular pressure management for scaled production and commercialization.

Glaucoma is the world's leading irreversible blinding disease. According to data from the "China Glaucoma Guidelines (2020)," in 2020, the number of people worldwide with primary glaucoma exceeded 76 million, with over 21 million patients in China, making it the country with the highest number of glaucoma patients. The "14th Five-Year National Eye Health Plan" issued by the National Health Commission proposes strengthening the prevention and treatment of key eye diseases in key populations, explicitly stating the need to enhance early diagnosis and treatment capabilities for glaucoma. With the aging population structure and rising national health awareness,The Market for Glaucoma Diagnosis and Treatment Has Huge Growth PotentialCurrently, there are three major issues in glaucoma diagnosis and treatment in China: insufficient investment in early screening and early diagnosis; few new minimally invasive surgical products on the market; and a lack of effective means for disease management, represented by intraocular pressure monitoring. The existence of these problems seriously affects the effective intervention and treatment of glaucoma.

According to data from the "China Glaucoma Research Report (2023)," approximately 50% of glaucoma patients are already in the advanced stage at the time of diagnosis. Meanwhile, there is an uneven distribution of specialized medical resources for glaucoma across regions. Medical conditions are better in first-tier cities and developed areas, while the consultation rate for glaucoma in western and rural areas is less than 30%. Currently, the main treatment methods for glaucoma in China are medications (for early stages) and surgery (for moderate to advanced stages). Common issues include poor patient adherence to medication, drug efficacy drift, inadequate intraocular pressure control, and a high risk of further visual field loss. Traditional surgeries are difficult, involve significant trauma, have complex complications, and are associated with a steep learning curve for doctors as well as a disproportionate doctor-patient ratio. Based on current treatment practices, it is estimated that more than 5.6 million of the over 21 million patients will suffer permanent blindness due to glaucoma, resulting in a disability rate as high as 27%.

Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS) has become a new trend in the treatment of glaucoma due to its excellent safety, efficacy, good compliance, and prognosis after rapid development in recent years. Especially internationally, it has been widely applied as an emerging method for glaucoma treatment, benefiting glaucoma patients worldwide.Long-term IOP ControlBring New Hope. HSGD, founded in September 2020, has grown into a leading enterprise in the MIGS field and is currently the company with the most comprehensive MIGS product pipeline globally. Among them, "MicroCOGO^®"Trabecular Meshwork Microstent Drainage System" isThe World's Smallest Class III Implant, breaking through foreign technical monopolies and filling the gap in this category of products in China. It entered the National Medical Device Innovation "Green Channel" in February 2024. Currently, the product has completed over a hundred surgical cases nationwide, and the current data shows excellent efficacy and safety.

The treatment of glaucoma is mainly achieved through intraocular pressure intervention, and intraocular pressure monitoring is an indispensable part of disease management. HSGD has innovatively developedHSM^®The rebound tonometer provides patients with a convenient method for daily monitoring of intraocular pressure without the need to register or queue at the hospital. The handheld tonometer can help patients achieve self-management of daily intraocular pressure monitoring, allowing them to carry it around and measure anytime. Doctors can also promptly grasp the fluctuation curve of patients' intraocular pressure, enabling precise intervention in the course of the disease. This product has recently obtained national medical device registration approval and is about to enter the market.

Dr. Peng Zhao, founder of HSGD, stated:China has a glaucoma patient population of over ten million. As a chronic disease with high disability rates that still cannot be cured, the vast majority of patients can retain their vision function for life through early detection and proper treatment. With the introduction and implementation of China's "14th Five-Year Plan" for national eye health goals, an increasing number of industry peers are committed to improving the visual health and diagnostic standards of Chinese people. HSGD's forward-looking, multi-faceted layout in this field promotes the application of MIGS technology and innovations in IOP monitoring models, providing a closed-loop solution for glaucoma management, which can effectively improve patients' quality of life.

SHEN Hui from SEALAND INNOVATION CAPITAL stated:China performs nearly 6 million minimally invasive surgeries annually in the fields of myopia and cataracts. However, in the field of glaucoma, which ranks first among irreversible blinding eye diseases, there has long been a lack of effective, safe, and easily promotable minimally invasive treatment methods. The MIGS trabecular micro-stent product developed by HSGD has gained the favor of experts, doctors, and patients nationwide due to its excellent safety and efficacy. This type of surgery has already become one of the mainstream procedures overseas, with nearly 200,000 such surgeries performed annually in the United States. With the introduction of favorable policies such as the "14th Five-Year Plan" for eye health, China's MIGS-related industry is also entering a period of rapid development, with the potential to become the next surgical sub-sector reaching millions of procedures annually. The HSGD team possesses rich industrialization experience and clinical resources, and has developed multiple new-generation MIGS products that are easy to operate, have a short learning curve, are more suitable for the ocular structure of Asians, and cover early, middle, and late stages of glaucoma based on national conditions. These products have received recognition from many ophthalmology clinical experts in China, demonstrating the team’s strong execution capabilities. We look forward to the company continuing to provide more innovative diagnostic and therapeutic products for glaucoma patients in China, benefiting even more individuals affected by glaucoma.

Tao Shanshan from Suzhou Industrial Park Leading Venture Capital stated:We are very optimistic about HSGD's future development prospects in the field of minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS). The company is a leader in this field. China has the largest number of glaucoma patients in the world, with current diagnostic methods having low detection rates and treatment outcomes being unsatisfactory. Given the vast unmet clinical needs, the future market potential is enormous. MIGS represents a new type of treatment approach, typically performed as an outpatient procedure, where incisions smaller than 3mm significantly reduce tissue damage and often eliminate the need for sutures. In the United States, MIGS has become a primary treatment method for glaucoma, with the company’s comparable product already achieving over 200,000 implantations annually in the U.S., establishing itself as a mainstream solution for glaucoma treatment. Ophthalmic implant devices are extremely small, requiring micron-level precision in peripheral dimensions and accuracy, which places high demands on manufacturing processes. HSGD’s ultra-micro precision production capabilities are exceptionally rare. Additionally, considering the necessity of intraocular pressure monitoring before and after surgery for glaucoma patients, HSGD has also introduced HaiSi Micro.^®The rebound tonometer allows patients to measure their intraocular pressure at home, providing a comprehensive solution for the daily monitoring and treatment of glaucoma patients, reflecting the patient-centered mission and original intention. The HSGD team has a senior professional background in top medical device companies both in China and abroad, with deep technical沉淀 and understanding, and strong execution capabilities. It is impressive that they have pushed the product into clinical use in such a short time and gained widespread recognition from many ophthalmology experts in China.

SEALAND INNOVATION CAPITAL CO.,LTD, a leading private equity fund management institution under domestic securities firms and a platform of Guohai Securities for private equity investment fund business, has been consecutively awarded prestigious honors such as the "Golden Bull Brokerage Equity Investment Excellence Institution" by China Securities Journal and "China's Best Brokerage Private Subsidiary, Top 100 Private Equity Investment Institutions in China" by China Venture during 2021-2023. SEALAND INNOVATION CAPITAL CO.,LTD initiates, establishes, and manages multiple private equity funds, including comprehensive equity investment funds, industry-themed strategy investment funds, S-strategy funds, and listed company private placement and block trading investment funds, with cumulative assets under management exceeding 20 billion RMB. SEALAND INNOVATION CAPITAL CO.,LTD boasts an aggregation of top talents, focusing on two main themes—"technological innovation" and "healthy living"—and has long been dedicated to investing in strategic high-tech industries encouraged by the state, such as healthcare, new energy, new materials, and advanced manufacturing. It has cumulatively invested in over a hundred high-quality enterprises across various niche industries.

Lingjun Venture Capital was established in December 2012 and is wholly owned by the SME Development Service Center of Suzhou Industrial Park. The funds under its management include the SIP Science and Technology Innovation Fund, the Lingjun Yuanrui Financial Technology Fund, and others. It is currently the largest policy-based angel investment institution in Suzhou Industrial Park and has played an active role in attracting high-end talent, promoting rapid business growth, and fostering a science and technology innovation ecosystem within the park. The Science and Technology Innovation Fund was jointly established by the Finance and Audit Bureau of Suzhou Industrial Park as the LP and Lingjun Venture Capital as the GP. Focusing on key areas of strategic emerging industries such as biomedicine, nanotechnology applications, and artificial intelligence, the fund adopts a combination of direct investment and allocation to support science and technology-based and innovative enterprises within the zone to grow larger, better, and stronger.