(News Bulletin 247) – The specialist in bionic vision systems has requested the conversion of the safeguard procedure into legal recovery. Pixium Vision hopes to find a buyer likely to support it in the development of its bionic eye.

Like the website editor dedicated to seniors Erold, Pixium Vision is playing for its survival. In great financial difficulty, the company, which specializes in innovative bionic vision systems allowing patients who have lost their sight to live more independently, announced Wednesday evening that it was looking for a buyer. The deadline for submitting takeover offers is November 20 at 12:00 p.m.

In its press release, the company judged that a backup plan was no longer possible given the company’s financing needs. Consequently, Pixium Vision will request the conversion of the safeguard procedure into judicial recovery.

Pixium’s situation therefore precipitously deteriorated barely 10 days after requesting the opening of a safeguard procedure for its benefit, taking into account its financial situation. Pixium Vision had admitted that it was no longer “able to meet its financial obligations after the end of November without placing itself under the protection” of the Paris Commercial Court.

A highly indebted company

As of October 9, the medtech said it had available cash of 2.575 million euros, an amount that allows it to last until the end of 2023. In other words, tomorrow. Besides, the company is crumbling under a mountain of debts, which amount to more than 9 million euros. The day after this announcement, the stock fell by 52% then by 26.7% the following session.

Finding a buyer is a question of survival for Pixium Vision. Despite all the efforts made in seeking financing, the company no longer has the funds necessary to continue the development of Prima, its bionic vision system for visually impaired people. Remember that the French company had obtained the valuable status of “breakthrough device” from the FDA, the American health authority, at the end of March for Prima, in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in its dry form. atrophic.

Age-related macular degeneration is a degenerative disease affecting the eye, the leading cause of low vision and blindness among people over 65 in developed countries. When it was announced that it had obtained this recognition by the FDA, Pixium Vision soared by 320% on March 31. This strong increase should also be put into perspective with the low nominal value of Pixium Vision.

The company also recalled that it had finalized the implementation of its pivotal European study PRIMAvera in December 2022 and planned to announce the main evaluation criteria of this study by the end of 2023 as well as the regulatory submission in Europe at the first half-year 2024. But to date, the priority for Pixium Vision is to find a buyer to ensure its survival.