ARDEN – Seeing Medicines, which states on the company website that its goal “is to develop regenerative medicine treatments to restore and maintain vision in people with macular degenerative diseases,” has raised nearly $7 million in equity funding from three investors, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“We’re very excited, we’re very excited to help people with macular degeneration,” said a spokesperson for the company, who answered a phone inquiry from WRAL TechWire.  The spokesperson declined to provide further comments about the fundraising or about the company in an interview with WRAL TechWire, instead directing reporters to the company website.

The company website describes a lead product, SMI-001, as “a complete treatment system for macular degenerative diseases” and states that the therapy undergoing development is designed to replace damaged retinal pigment epithelium cells with healthy ones, “seeded on a thin, firm and degradable scaffold made from fibrin, a natural human protein.”

The product will be designed as an off-the-shelf, packaged product, according to the website.

The company is led by LeRoux Jooste, a biotech executive with recent experience in regenerative medicine and developing stem cell-based treatments for macular degeneration at Ocata Therapeutics, which was acquired by Astellas Pharma in 2016, and is based in Arden, N.C., according to the filing.

The company could raise up to $1.5 million more, according to the filing.