Retinal Prosthesis Companies (Schema, Aug 2026)
What: Current major companies in retinal/visual prostheses — device type, channels, status, regulatory. Companion to retinal-prosthesis and brain-computer-interface.
Company schema
Subretinal
| Company | HQ | Device (type · channels) | Status (2026-08) | Key facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Science Corporation (ex-Pixium Vision) | Alameda, CA, US | PRIMA — subretinal photovoltaic · 378 pixels (2×2 mm) | Commercial (EU) | Founded 2021 by max-hodak; acquired Pixium PRIMA IP Apr 2024; CE mark (MDR/DEKRA) + EU launch Jul 22 2026; FDA Breakthrough (2023) + 2× HUD (Jul 2026); 1.5B valuation (Mar 2026); NEJM 2026 trial: 81% improved ≥0.2 logMAR, 84% read letters; see science-corp |
| Pixium Vision (PRIMA origin) | Paris, FR (EU) | PRIMA — subretinal photovoltaic · 378 pixels; IRIS I (epiretinal) | Acquired (liquidated) | Founded 2011 (Institut de la Vision/UPMC spin-out); first-in-human 2017; FDA IDE 2018; first US implant UPMC 2020; closed Jan 2024 → Science Corp.; see pixium-vision |
| Retina Implant AG | Reutlingen, DE | Alpha IMS / Alpha AMS — subretinal · 1,500 electrodes (3×3 mm) | Defunct | CE mark 2013; largest electrode count of its era; shareholders dissolved company 19 Mar 2019 — implanted patients left abandoned |
| Nano Retina | Herzliya, IL | NR600 — subretinal (penetrating epiretinal, NIR-powered) | Inactive | 9 patients; trial NCT04295304 terminated end-2023 (lack of funding); Yanovitch et al. bioRxiv 2022 |
| Iridium Medical Technology (晶祈生技) | Hsinchu, TW | HARP4k — subretinal · ~4,000 pixels (30 µm, flexible contact-lens shape) | Preclinical | Founded 2012 by Long-Sheng Fan; US9114004B2 (flexible artificial retina, 2015); Diamond Biofund; ~$5.68M raised; highest pixel count of any design worldwide; VP: Feng-Hsiung Hsu (IBM Deep Blue); see iridium-medical |
| Boston Retinal Implant Project | Boston, MA, US (commercial partners: Bionic Eye Technologies + Visus Technology) | Subretinal — 256+ ch, wireless | Preclinical | Titanium case on sclera; thin flexible electrode array only enters eye; 256+ independently configurable stimulation channels; bostonretinalimplant.org |
| Axorus | Paris, FR | Photoacoustic film (PDMS/CS/PDMS) — subretinal · 51-µm acoustic pixels | Pre-clinical | BU/INSERM spin-out; patents licensed from BU; developing contact-lens form factor; COI (Moulet/Losasco = major stakeholders); first-in-human safety study planned; see axorus |
Epiretinal
| Company | HQ | Device · channels | Status (2026-08) | Key facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cortigent (ex-Second Sight) | Valencia, CA, US | Argus II — epiretinal · 60 ch (discontinued); Orion — cortical · 60 ch | Active (pivot to cortical) | Argus II: CE 2011, FDA 2013 (first FDA-approved); production halted 2019, patients unsupported; Cortigent = Vivani Medical subsidiary (2023); S-1 filed (Nasdaq: CRGT). IEEE Spectrum (Feb 2022) documented >350 abandoned implantees — patients couldn’t get MRIs, crowd-sourced spare parts; FDA postapproval study recorded 36 serious adverse events in 30 patients (2007–2019); Second Sight merged with Nano Precision Medical in 2022. 1 |
| IntelliMicro Medical (微智医疗) | Changsha, CN / Pasadena, CA, US | IMIE 256 — epiretinal · 256 ch (248+8 electrodes, Parylene-C) | Clinical | Founded Mar 2018 by Caltech/Golden Eye Bionics (Humayun, Tai, Grubbs); first-in-human 5 RP patients 2021 (99.9% electrode survival); Jun 2026 Xiangya Hospital: first totally blind Chinese subject → character recognition + independent walking (Prof. Xu Huizhuo, Humayun guidance); fully domestic IP; Hunan provincial funding; see intellimicro-medical |
| Nanochap (暖芯迦) | Hangzhou, CN | Retinal visual BCI — epiretinal · 320 ch (3D pillar electrodes, 50 µm) | Clinical (GCP trial) | Founded 2014 (Univ. Melbourne spinout); CEO Yang Jiawei; ¥300M (~$41M) raised May 2026 (Legend Capital, Tencent); China first high-res retinal BCI: patient “Lingling” saw on day 2 post-op; 256-level grayscale; >10 yr hermetic lifespan; magnetic fixation; see nanochap |
| RWTH Aachen University | Aachen, DE | EPI-RET 3 — epiretinal · 25 ch (fully intraocular) | Historical (clinical, completed) | 6 patients; removed at 1 month per ethics guidelines; no AEs; VA light perception to hand motion; IOP coil embedded in IOL — no transscleral wire; Menzel-Severing et al. Eye 2012;26(4):501-509 |
| Polyretina (Ghezzi lab, EPFL/USI) | Lugano, CH | Polyretina — foldable photovoltaic epiretinal, wide-field | Preclinical | Activates RGCs at safe irradiance; moldable for full retinal surface coverage; 2-yr in vitro lifetime; no cytotoxicity; Ferlauto et al. Nat Commun 2018;9:992. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03386-7 |
Suprachoroidal
| Company | HQ | Device · channels | Status (2026-08) | Key facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bionic Vision Technologies (BVT) | Melbourne, AU | Suprachoroidal — 44-ch gen 2 (44 Pt electrodes, postauricular headpiece) | Active (clinical) | World’s first suprachoroidal visual prosthesis; phase 2 (4 patients): safety confirmed, meaningful functional improvements; FDA Breakthrough Device designation; no commercial approval; Petoe et al. TVST 2021;10(10):12 |
| Phoenix99 (Bionics Institute / U. Sydney) | Melbourne/Sydney, AU | Phoenix99 — suprachoroidal · 98 stimulation sites + 1 common electrode | Preclinical | Bovine in vivo model: safety confirmed; 98-channel prosthesis in scleral pocket; Eggenberger et al. Biomaterials 2021;279:121191 |
| Osaka University (Fujikado group) | Osaka, JP | Suprachoroidal-transretinal stimulation — 49-microelectrode array | Research (in vivo studies) | 3 patients; favorable safety profile; variable functional results; scleral pocket placement; not commercialized; Fujikado et al. IOVS 2011;52(7):4726-4733. (Previously listed as “Nidek STS” — Nidek is a separate company; device is from Osaka University group) |
Optic Disc
| Group | HQ | Device | Status | Key facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osaka University Medical School (Sakaguchi/Nishida group) | Osaka, JP | AV-DONE (Artificial Vision by Direct Optic Nerve Electrode) | Clinical (2 patients total) | Gen 1 (2009): 1 patient; phosphenes confirmed but device dislodged repeatedly. Gen 2: 7 stim + 1 ref electrodes; 1-step implantation; tested in rabbits + 1 human volunteer (6/7 electrodes evoked phosphenes, no complications). Unique placement: stimulates optic disc, bypasses entire retina. Sakaguchi et al. J Artif Organs 2009;12(3):206. Nishida et al. Brain Stimul 2015;8(3):678-681. |
Transcorneal electrical stimulation (TES — therapy, not a prosthesis)
Adjacent to the implant companies: stimulation therapy aiming to slow degeneration / preserve remaining vision in RP — no phosphenes, no form vision, nothing implanted. Included here because it occupies the “electrical stimulation of the retina” niche left vacant by the defunct implant makers and shares the RP patient population.
| Company | HQ | Device (type · channels) | Status (2026-09) | Key facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okuvision GmbH (ex-Retina Implant AG subsidiary) | Kusterdingen, DE | OkuStim® — transcorneal electrical stimulation (TES), non-invasive home therapy · no electrodes implanted | Commercial (EU) | Founded end-2007 as Retina Implant AG subsidiary (now independent); co-developed with Tübingen University Hospital ophthalmology; CE mark Class IIa 2014; OkuStim® 2 approved 2025; RP studies since 2011 (safety/efficacy, visual-field endpoints); glaucoma study protocol in BMJ Open (Mar 2026); CEO Dr. Alfred Stett; okuvision.de |
Distinction: every row above delivers a visual percept via an implanted array; OkuStim delivers neuroprotective stimulation of surviving retina — the successor path of the same Tübingen ecosystem that produced the Alpha IMS/AMS implants (Retina Implant AG dissolved 2019).
Dimensions of comparison
- Placement: subretinal (PRIMA, Alpha AMS, NR600, HARP4k, Boston Retinal Implant, Axorus) — stimulates bipolar cells, needs intact inner retina; epiretinal (Argus II, IMIE 256, EPI-RET 3, Polyretina) — stimulates RGCs, simpler surgery but axonal stimulation distorts mapping; suprachoroidal (BVT, Phoenix99, Osaka STS) — safest placement, more remote stimulation, lower resolution per channel; optic disc (AV-DONE) — bypasses entire retina, unique for RP; cortical (Orion, Gennaris, Blindsight, ICVP, Biomedical Technologies) — works even where optic nerve is damaged.
- Regulatory/commercial reality: Only PRIMA has reached commercial availability as a visual prosthesis (EU, CE-marked, form vision). Every other implant product either died (Argus II, Alpha AMS, NR600) or remains clinical/preclinical. The one other CE-marked commercial product in this table is not a prosthesis at all: OkuStim® TES therapy (Class IIa, 2014; OkuStim 2 2025) sells neuroprotective stimulation, not vision.
- Funding: Science Corp 650M+ Series E (2025); Nanochap ¥300M (~5.68M (Diamond Biofund); most others million-scale (BVT, Nano Retina) — consolidation is the norm (Pixium → Science; Second Sight → Cortigent/Vivani).
- Channel count as a rough resolution proxy: 25 (EPI-RET 3) → 44–60 (BVT gen 2, Argus II, Orion) → 98 (Phoenix99) → 256 (IMIE 256, Boston RI) → 320 (Nanochap retinal BCI) → 378 pixels (PRIMA) → 1,500 electrodes (Alpha AMS) → ~4,000 pixels (HARP4k, preclinical) → ~51 µm acoustic pixels (Axorus/photoacoustic, no discrete channel count — spatially continuous).
Verdict
The field has consolidated to one commercial leader (Science Corp/PRIMA, EU CE-marked), with a wide tier of preclinical challengers (Axorus photoacoustic, IMIE 256, Boston Retinal Implant, Phoenix99) and a graveyard of technically-successful-but-commercially- failed devices (Argus II, Alpha AMS, NR600). Success requires not just approval but reimbursement — and, as Hodak argues, the disease-first (GA/AMD, >5M patients) strategy is the fastest path. The Optic Disc (AV-DONE) approach remains a niche curiosity with very limited patient numbers. Off-implant, the Tübingen ecosystem (Retina Implant AG’s successor Okuvision) pivoted to non-invasive OkuStim® TES therapy — the only other CE-marked commercial product in this schema, selling neuroprotection rather than vision. See max-hodak and science-corp.
Cortical alternative: for blindness caused by optic-nerve/inner-retina damage, cortex-interfacing devices are the universal option — see cortical-visual-prosthesis-companies.
References
- Okuvision GmbH. “The Okuvision Story.” https://okuvision.de/en/okuvison-story/ (accessed 2026-09-03); Okuvision press releases: OkuStim® 2 CE marking (2025-12-09); glaucoma TES study protocol, BMJ Open (2026-03-05).
- Moon JY, Sather RN, Montezuma SR. Overview of Retinal Prosthesis and Future Directions. Retinal Physician. May 2024;21:9-11. https://www.retinalphysician.com/issues/2024/may/overview-of-retinal-prosthesis-and-future-directions/
- Science Corp. news (2024, 2025, 2026); BrightFocus (2026); NEJM 2026;394:232-242 (Holz et al.); bionic-vision.org company profiles (2025-10-25); Grand View Research, Retinal Implants Market 2025-2030 (84.1M 2030, CAGR 8.3%).