NEW YORK – Ocular diagnostic firm TearLab announced Monday Accelmed Partners will acquire the company and invest $25 million into TearLab over two tranches.
As a result of the agreement, TearLab will delist from the over-the-counter market and will restructure the terms of its senior secured debt with CR Group. TearLab will be a private company with Accelmed Partners as the controlling shareholder, the firm said.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2020.
Proceeds from the $25 million investment will be used to partially pay down TearLab's debt and fund organic and inorganic growth opportunities for the company. The firm will continue development of its Discovery lab-on-a-chip platform and "seek out targeted acquisition opportunities," TearLab CEO Seph Jensen said in a statement.
Under the agreement, Accelmed Partners' Uri Geiger and Lior Shav will join TearLab's board of directors, with Geiger becoming chairman. Jensen will remain on the board.
Last month the US Food and Drug Administration accepted the company's resubmission of its 510(k) application for the TearLab Discovery MMP-9 test and Discovery platform, which the agency previously rejected in 2018.
In 2017, the San Diego-based company received CE marking for its multiplex diagnostics platform for human tear samples, as well as an assay for response to dry eye disease therapy.