Breye raises $76.5M to move oral diabetic-retinopathy drug into Phase 2

Breye Therapeutics has closed a $76.5 million Series A to move danegaptide, an oral drug candidate for people with earlier-stage diabetic retinopathy, into a randomized Phase 2 trial. Mission BioCapital and existing backer Novo Holdings co-led the round, which the Copenhagen biotech said was oversubscribed.

Diabetic retinopathy damages tiny blood vessels in the retina as chronically high glucose drives capillary breakdown and leakage. Today’s intravitreal treatments are injected into the eye and can preserve vision in late-stage disease, but Breye says they are often poorly tolerated and treatment persistence is low; options for early or moderate non-proliferative disease remain limited.

Danegaptide takes a different route: patients would swallow a small-molecule medicine intended to stabilize retinal blood vessels. Breye says an oral treatment could complement injections by reaching people earlier in the disease, but the company still needs to demonstrate clinical proof of concept.

The company completed a Phase 1b trial in 2025. Breye said the candidate was well tolerated at all tested doses and that retinal imaging showed early signs consistent with less vascular leakage. Those were preliminary company-reported signals; the planned 2027 randomized study is meant to test clinical proof of concept.

Breye will also use the financing to develop its broader oral-drug pipeline. That includes a P2X7 receptor antagonist intended to reduce nerve damage and inflammation in intermediate age-related macular degeneration, plus neuroprotective glaucoma candidates that the company says are moving toward studies needed before human trials.