Danish Biotech Breye Raises $73M to Pioneer Oral Eye Therapies

Jan de Vries · 2026-10-02

Breye Therapeutics, a Danish biopharmaceutical company, just closed an oversubscribed $73 million Series A round. The company is developing oral treatments for retinal diseases, and this funding will push their lead candidate into the next phase of clinical trials. It's a big deal for patients with diabetic retinopathy, who currently face invasive eye injections. ### The Funding Round and Investor Confidence The round was co-led by Mission BioCapital and Novo Holdings, with participation from Sound Bioventures, the Ljungström family office, Innovestor Life Science, EIFO, Catalyze Capital, Modi Ventures, and Pappas Capital. As part of the financing, Robert Blazej from Mission BioCapital and Lukas Ljungström from the Ljungström family office will join Breye's board. This mix of new and existing investors signals strong belief in the company's vision. > "This $73 million Series A financing reflects the strong confidence in Breye's vision, strategy, and pipeline," said Ulrik Mouritzen, CEO of Breye Therapeutics. "It enables us to advance danegaptide, our pioneering oral treatment for diabetic retinopathy, to the next stage of clinical development." ### What Breye Therapeutics Is Working On Breye was founded in 2019 and emerged from stealth in 2022 with a $4.3 million seed round. The company is developing oral therapies for eye diseases like intermediate age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. Their lead candidate, danegaptide, is a first-in-class oral small molecule that stabilizes retinal vasculature. It protects against capillary breakdown and vascular leakage caused by high glucose levels. Diabetic retinopathy affects about 130 million people worldwide and is a leading cause of vision loss in working-age adults. The current market for diabetic retinopathy therapeutics is nearing $10 billion and could double in the next decade. Existing treatments are injected directly into the eye, which is uncomfortable and leads to low adherence. Plus, options for early-stage non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) are limited. ### The Promise of Danegaptide Danegaptide is an oral pill that could offer a patient-friendly alternative. In a Phase 1b trial last year, it was well tolerated across all doses and showed early signs of clinical activity, including reductions in vascular leakage. Breye also published a paper in Science Translational Medicine analyzing the evidence for danegaptide. Robert Blazej of Mission BioCapital said, "Breye is emerging as a leader in innovative retinal disease therapies. We believe Breye is uniquely positioned to address this unmet need." With this funding, Breye plans to advance danegaptide into later-stage trials, bringing hope to millions.