Henric Bjarke, CEO of Tenpoint Therapeutics with offices in Basel, Switzerland, highlights the company's de-risked presbyopia program, strong team, and large global market. With a career spanning landmark launches like latanoprost and anti-VEGF therapies, he describes the enduring pull of ophthalmology. Tenpoint is preparing for the 2026 launch of its lead miotic eye drop while advancing a pipeline targeting cataracts and geographic atrophy, with plans for growth and an eventual public market transition.
What strategic factors influenced your decision to assume the chief executive role at Tenpoint Therapeutics?
My journey to Tenpoint Therapeutics represents a deliberate convergence of expertise, opportunity, and strategic vision. Originally from Sweden, my career began there before what was intended as a three-year US assignment evolved into a transformative 23-year tenure, ultimately leading to my current position in Switzerland.
My attraction to Tenpoint Therapeutics stems from three fundamental strategic considerations. Firstly, our lead programme represents a significantly de-risked regulatory proposition. We have successfully filed our New Drug Application and maintain a Prescription Drug User Fee Act date of January 28th, 2026. This regulatory positioning, combined with the asset’s clear market differentiation – demonstrated through robust efficacy coupled with exceptional safety and tolerability profiles – creates a compelling value proposition.
The market opportunity itself presents substantial scale. With 128 million individuals affected by presbyopia [the age-related loss of the eye’s ability to focus on nearby objects due to reduced lens elasticity – Ed.] in the US alone and approximately 2 billion people worldwide, the addressable market represents a significant commercial opportunity for innovative therapeutic interventions.
However, the decisive factor in my decision was the calibre of the organisation’s human capital. We have assembled what I believe constitutes one of the strongest commercial teams across the entire ophthalmology sector. This collective expertise spans our three therapeutic development areas and represents decades of accumulated industry knowledge and execution capability.
Having already spent much of your career in ophthalmology, what is the continuing attraction of the field?
My career trajectory illustrates the magnetic pull of ophthalmology for experienced executives. My pharmaceutical journey began with the launch of latanoprost for glaucoma, which achieved 2 billion USD in peak sales, followed by leadership roles at multiple ophthalmology-focused organisations including Eyetech, where I launched the first anti-VEGF therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
Ophthalmology professionals often describe a gravitational pull back to the field. The combination of innovative science, exceptional physician relationships, and the fundamental human connection to vision creates a uniquely compelling professional environment. Vision represents something universally relatable; the prospect of vision loss resonates with everyone, creating both personal motivation and clear therapeutic impact. The physicians themselves, retina specialists, glaucoma specialists, general ophthalmologists, and optometrists, are exceptional individuals who make this field genuinely enjoyable to work within.
How did the strategic combination that created the current Tenpoint Therapeutics entity come together, and what was the rationale for this particular corporate structure?
The current incarnation of Tenpoint Therapeutics emerged from a strategic merger executed in July of the previous year, combining complementary assets and capabilities. The transaction brought together Visus, a US-based entity with advanced-stage assets, and the original Tenpoint, a UK-based company focused on early-stage cell therapy development.
This combination enabled us to optimise our pipeline prioritisation across both organisations’ programmes. We retained the Tenpoint nomenclature whilst consolidating around our late-stage presbyopia programme, alongside two promising early-stage initiatives addressing cataracts and geographic atrophy, respectively. The strategic rationale reflects broader industry trends towards focused specialisation within ophthalmology, where companies increasingly concentrate expertise and resources around specific therapeutic areas rather than pursuing diversified approaches across multiple medical fields.
How does Tenpoint Therapeutics define its strategic mission, and what specific market dynamics are you positioned to address?
We have articulated our mission around a specific demographic and clinical reality: developing medicines to rejuvenate the ageing eye. This focus acknowledges the inevitability of age-related vision deterioration whilst positioning the company to address these conditions through innovative therapeutic interventions.
Presbyopia affects approximately 95% of individuals by their fifties. This represents the initial manifestation of lens stiffening, which progressively impairs the eye’s ability to refract light effectively. The natural progression of this condition ultimately leads to cataract formation, creating a continuum of therapeutic opportunity.
Our second programme addresses this progression directly through an intravitreal injection designed to reverse cataract formation, potentially eliminating the need for surgical intervention and artificial lens implantation. Our target product profile envisions annual injections that maintain the natural lens whilst reversing cataract progression. This approach could potentially address presbyopia simultaneously by restoring lens flexibility. This cataract programme remains in preclinical development, with lead candidate selection planned for the first half of 2026 and Investigational New Drug filing targeted for the first half of 2027.
What specific competitive advantages position your miotic eye drop candidate as a differentiated offering in the presbyopia treatment landscape?
Its competitive positioning derives from its status as the only fixed-combination product under development in the presbyopia treatment category. This formulation strategy delivers multiple therapeutic benefits through a single daily administration.
Our miotic effect – the reduction of pupil size that enables improved near vision – represents the strongest demonstrated efficacy in the category. Beyond this primary mechanism, we have incorporated clinically meaningful endpoints that directly correlate with patient experience. Our Phase III data demonstrates significant improvements in reading speed at both three and six months, addressing the fundamental reason patients seek reading glasses.
The inclusion of brimonidine in the formulation provides an additional aesthetic benefit through its eye-whitening properties, whilst the once-daily dosing regimen eliminates refrigeration requirements, significantly enhancing patient convenience and adherence potential. This combination of efficacy, patient-relevant outcomes, aesthetic enhancement, and convenient administration creates a differentiated value proposition that extends beyond traditional therapeutic considerations.
Can you elaborate on your pipeline’s more advanced programmes, particularly the cell therapy initiative targeting geographic atrophy?
Beyond our lead presbyopia programme, we are advancing an off-the-shelf allogeneic cell therapy targeting geographic atrophy. This programme represents our most ambitious scientific undertaking, utilising retinal pigment epithelium cells to replace damaged or deceased cellular structures.
Our approach involves replacing dysfunctional RPE cells to restore vision for patients suffering from geographic atrophy. Whilst this represents a significant departure from our small-molecule programmes, we have achieved substantial progress in chemistry, manufacturing, and controls development.
The programme benefits from existing human data generated with an earlier patch-based delivery system, whilst current development focuses on suspension formulation. We anticipate initiating regulatory discussions this year to establish a clear developmental pathway before commencing clinical planning. This London-based programme originated from University College London research, representing our commitment to translating academic innovation into commercial therapeutic solutions.
What is your current capital strategy, and how are you positioning the organisation for commercial execution as you approach potential regulatory approval?
We are currently executing a financing round targeted for completion by the end of September, with proceeds specifically allocated to support the lead miotic ophthalmic therapy commercial launch preparation. This includes sales force recruitment, market development activities, and operational scaling to support a first-half 2026 market entry.
Our financing strategy aligns directly with our commercial timeline. These resources will enable us to build market presence, establish thought leadership within the ophthalmology community, and recruit the commercial team necessary to execute a successful product launch.
Our ambitions extend beyond single-product commercialisation towards establishing a comprehensive ophthalmology franchise. With a current workforce of 50 individuals, we plan to expand to over 150 people through the third and fourth quarters, representing a tripling of organisational capacity.
How do you characterise the organisational capabilities and cultural foundation that will drive execution of this ambitious growth strategy?
Our team represents concentrated ophthalmology expertise, with collective experience spanning over 30 product launches and more than ten blockbuster achievements. This track record encompasses the complete spectrum of drug development, regulatory approval, and commercial execution within the eye care sector.
We operate as a truly global organisation with presence in Seattle, Irvine, London, and Basel, yet maintain unified culture and execution standards. This distributed model enables us to access the best talent whilst maintaining operational efficiency and collaborative effectiveness.
Our organisational culture emphasises both achievement and engagement, recognising that sustained performance requires an environment where team members can find fulfilment in their professional contributions whilst maintaining perspective and enjoyment in their daily interactions. We spend considerable time working together on complex challenges, so creating an environment where we can laugh together and enjoy the process becomes essential for sustainable success.
How do you assess the current investment climate and competitive dynamics within the ophthalmology sector?
The ophthalmology sector presents unique advantages for both innovation and commercialisation. Unlike many therapeutic areas, ophthalmology offers relatively rapid feedback mechanisms for therapeutic efficacy, with anatomical and functional improvements often visible through diagnostic imaging and patient assessment.
The ophthalmology community represents a close-knit professional ecosystem where successful innovations diffuse rapidly across geographic boundaries. This creates acceleration opportunities for companies that achieve regulatory success, as US market penetration often facilitates faster European adoption and global expansion.
Investment activity within ophthalmology continues to expand, driven by consistent innovation across small molecules, gene therapies, cell therapies, and medical technology platforms. The sector’s relatively contained physician universe facilitates efficient commercial execution for companies that achieve regulatory approval. Most investment funds maintain ophthalmology exposure, and the sector has generated numerous successful exits, making it an attractive investment proposition.
As you approach the critical Q1-2026 commercial launch timeline, how are you preparing the organisation for this pivotal transition, and what operational milestones are you targeting?
Commercial readiness requires comprehensive preparation across multiple organisational dimensions. We have achieved substantial operational milestones in advance of our anticipated approval timeline. Our active pharmaceutical ingredient production is complete, with confirmed extended shelf stability. We have secured conditional trade name approval, finalised packaging design specifications, and recruited our Chief Commercial Officer, Carol Kearney, who has assembled her commercial leadership infrastructure.
Our scaling strategy focuses on market presence development and sales force recruitment, with the organisation targeting over 100 new hires through the final two quarters of this year. This expansion will enable immediate market engagement upon regulatory approval, maximising the commercial opportunity window.
Our immediate priorities centre on elevating Tenpoint’s market visibility within the ophthalmology community whilst building the commercial infrastructure necessary to support launch execution. This dual focus ensures both market preparation and operational readiness converge at the optimal moment for commercial success.
What is your strategic vision for Tenpoint Therapeutics over the next three years, and how do you see the company’s role evolving within the broader ophthalmology landscape?
We position ourselves at the convergence of demographic trends, technological innovation, and unmet medical needs. Our three-programme portfolio addresses the continuum of age-related vision deterioration, from presbyopia through cataracts to retinal degeneration.
We are constructing an ophthalmology company specifically focused on rejuvenating the ageing eye. Our programmes represent potential paradigm shifts in how we address these conditions, moving beyond management towards restoration and reversal of age-related vision loss.
Our trajectory includes continued private financing, eventual public market transition, and sustained pipeline advancement across our three therapeutic programmes.
