Ophthalmology specialist Ocular Therapeutix Inc. downsized its initial public offering (IPO), raising $65 million through the sale of 5 million shares sold at $13 each instead of the company's desired $14 to $16. The raise will support three clinical programs, including phase III trials of the company's lead candidate, a dexamethasone-eluting plug for the treatment of ocular inflammation and pain following cataract surgery.

Morgan Stanley & Co., Cowen and Co. and RBC Capital Markets are joint bookrunners for the offering, while Oppenheimer & Co. is acting co-manager. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to 750,000 additional shares to cover overallotments, which could help Ocular raise an additional $9.8 million. The company began trading on Nasdaq Friday under the ticker OCUL. Shares opened flat and ended the day at $13.15, up 15 cents.

Ocular gained its first FDA approval in January with Resure Sealant, a polyethylene glycol-based (PEG) hydrogel for sealing clear corneal incisions following cataract surgery. While the Bedford, Mass.-based company doesn't expect to generate enough revenue from Resure to achieve profitability, the revenue it does generate, together with the IPO proceeds, the $12.8 million it had at March 31 and its borrowing facilities, should carry it at least another two years, the firm said.

Ocular's bigger goal is tackling poor patient compliance with eye drop regimens for front-of-eye issues by getting doctors to use drug-eluting plugs instead. The tiny plugs fit into a natural opening called the punctum, located in the inner portion of the eyelid near the nose. The plugs release a therapeutic agent to the surface of the eye over an extended period, replacing the need for eye drops altogether.

Lead candidates in the plug program are OTX-DP and OTX-TP. Both combine Ocular's hydrogel technology with already-approved therapeutics, a key element of the company's strategy to de-risk its candidates. The most advanced candidate, OTX-DP, incorporates the steroid dexamethasone in a hydrogel-based drug-eluting punctum plug. A phase III trial testing its efficacy against ocular inflammation and pain following cataract surgery is expected to yield results during the first quarter of 2015. With favorable results, Ocular would submit a new drug application to the FDA for it in the second quarter next year. Ocular is also testing it in a phase II trial for the treatment of chronic allergic conjunctivitis.

OTX-TP, a plug incorporating the prostaglandin analogue travoprost, recently completed a phase IIa trial in glaucoma and ocular hypertension treatment. Testing for the indication will continue with a phase IIb to be started before the end of the year.

In addition to OTX-DP and OTX-TP, Ocular is advancing a pipeline of earlier-stage punctum plug candidates, including OTX-MP, which has completed a phase I trial for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis and a preclinical intravitreal hydrogel-based drug delivery depot, which is designed to release therapeutic agents, such as antibodies to vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF, over a sustained period after injection.

The company's pipeline is based on its bioresorbable hydrogel technology, which uses PEG as a key component. The materials gradually break down in the body into nontoxic, water-soluble compounds. Most of the intellectual property backing the platform is in-licensed from Incept LLC, an intellectual property company half-owned by Ocular's president and CEO, Amarpreet Sawhney, a veteran inventor and executive.

Founded in 2006, Ocular has since grown to 58 full-time employees.

It has financed its operations mostly through private placements, raising $74.2 million so far while borrowing about $7.7 million, most of which it has repaid. In April 2014, the company borrowed another $15 million.

The company's quiet period, which prevented it from commenting on the offering, expires Sept. 2.

Ocular's downsized offering picked up on Wednesday's thread of disappointing biotech IPO news, including Immune Design Corp.'s $60 million offering, which priced at the low end of its range, Pfenex Inc.'s discounted $50 million offering and Kinemed Inc.'s decision to call off its planned $32 million IPO. (See BioWorld Today, July 25, 2014.)