🔒CT-based biotech TECLens aims to make reading glasses optional

Madhu Ayyagari made it through the first five decades of his life without needing glasses.

Then he turned 50.

Suddenly, reading a book or a restaurant menu wasn’t as easy. Ayyagari began wearing reading glasses, joining the vast population of middle-aged adults who develop a condition called presbyopia, the age-related loss of the eye’s ability to focus on nearby objects.

“I went through the phase,” Ayyagari said. “I still wear reading glasses.”

Today, Ayyagari is CEO of Stamford-based TECLens, a clinical-stage medical device company developing a technology that, if successful, could give people like him another option.

TECLens is developing a noninvasive procedure designed to correct vision by changing the properties of the cornea. The company is initially targeting presbyopia, although it believes the treatment eventually could be used for several other vision conditions.

For people who never needed glasses until reaching their 40s or 50s, Ayyagari said, the prospect of remaining free of them could be particularly appealing.

Now, after more than a decade of development, TECLens is beginning to determine whether that promise can be translated into a commercially viable product.

The company has begun treating patients in an international proof-of-concept study and recently raised $5.2 million in a new financing round led by existing investor Johnson & Johnson, the pharmaceutical and medical technology giant. TECLens expects to begin preparing next year for a much larger U.S. clinical trial that will be required to seek Food and Drug Administration approval.

The company estimates that presbyopia affects more than 120 million Americans and represents a $14.5 billion U.S. market opportunity. Ayyagari said the potential market for all of the conditions the company eventually hopes to address is about $20 billion.

An ‘untapped’ need

Presbyopia typically begins affecting people in their late 40s or early 50s and progressively worsens, said Dr. Lorenzo Cervantes, an ophthalmologist and owner-partner of Connecticut Eye Specialists in Shelton and president-elect of the Connecticut Society of Eye Physicians.

While needing reading glasses may sound like merely an inconvenience, Cervantes said its impact can be significant because so many everyday activities — from looking at your phone to checking your watch — take place within arm’s length.

“This is a realm that is untouched, untapped,” he said.

Cervantes, who is not involved with TECLens, said current approaches to treating presbyopia — including reading glasses, contact lenses, specialized implants used during cataract surgery and prescription eye drops — don’t address the underlying cause of the condition, but instead compensate for it.

LASIK, which uses a laser to reshape the cornea, can improve distance vision but generally doesn’t eliminate presbyopia, he said.

TECLens is pursuing a different approach using “corneal cross-linking.”

Ayyagari said the company’s procedure involves infusing vitamin B2, or riboflavin, into the cornea and then exposing specific areas to ultraviolet light. The process strengthens and reshapes the cornea to correct vision.

Unlike LASIK and some other refractive procedures, TECLens’ technology does not remove corneal tissue, Ayyagari said. It also leaves intact the cornea’s outermost layer, known as the epithelium.

That could be an important advantage.

Cervantes said he already uses corneal cross-linking to treat keratoconus, a condition in which the cornea thins and changes shape. Traditionally, doctors removed the epithelium so riboflavin could penetrate the cornea, which could cause pain and other complications. Newer approaches allow the epithelium to remain intact.

Still early

TECLens, though, still must demonstrate it can use cross-linking to correct vision safely, predictably and durably.

The company has treated about 10 patients in a proof-of-concept study in the Philippines, Dominican Republic and Brazil and hopes to have data from about 50 eyes by next spring.

Ayyagari said TECLens chose the foreign locations in part for access to experienced surgeons, but also because early studies there can be conducted more quickly and inexpensively than in the United States.

The results will help TECLens determine which conditions to initially target before moving toward a U.S. trial, which Ayyagari expects could involve about 350 patients over two to three years.

Selectively cross-linking portions of the cornea to produce a desired change in its shape is intriguing, but important questions remain, Cervantes said.

What would make it even more desirable is if the procedure “can be done in a very predictable way, and if it lasts,” he said.

TECLens does not expect the vision correction to be permanent, Ayyagari said. Changes to the eye continue as people age, he said, meaning patients could eventually need a “touch-up.” The company is still studying how long the correction could last.

Funding the next step

Getting through the clinical process will require more capital.

A July 24 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows TECLens is seeking about $10.2 million in a new financing round.

Ayyagari said the company has received about $5.2 million so far and has commitments for the remaining $5 million, which it expects to receive over the next several months.

The investors are existing backers, he said, with Johnson & Johnson the lead investor in the current financing.

“It is huge,” Ayyagari said of Johnson & Johnson’s support, citing the company’s expertise in vision-related medical devices and its understanding of the market.

TECLens previously raised $9.3 million in 2025. The $5.2 million received in the current round should provide enough funding to complete the proof-of-concept study, Ayyagari said, while the additional capital would give the company flexibility if the study needs to be expanded.

Founded in 2014, TECLens has about 10 full-time employees and another 10 or 11 consultants and contractors. The company expects to bring some functions in-house as it moves toward its FDA study.

If the technology ultimately reaches the market, Ayyagari said, TECLens expects to sell treatment consoles to ophthalmologists and generate recurring revenue from replaceable components used for each patient.

For presbyopia, treatment likely would be paid for out of pocket by the patient, much like LASIK surgery, he said. TECLens hasn’t yet determined the cost of the procedure.

From tech to business

Ayyagari joined TECLens as president earlier this year and became CEO in June after about 25 years in the corporate world, including evaluating medical technologies for investment.

He said he saw an opportunity to use his experience bringing products from concept to commercialization.

He also expects Stamford to remain part of the company’s plans.

Connecticut gives the company access to university talent, major healthcare institutions and investors, while its proximity to New York adds access to another major investment hub, Ayyagari said.

TECLens has recruited engineers from the University of Connecticut, including students who initially worked with the company through co-op programs before joining after graduation.

For now, though, the company’s prospects depend on proving that a technology more than a decade in development can reliably change how patients see.