About us
Our mission
INEYE PHARMA contributes to the improvement of people’s quality of life, particularly in the prevention of blindness or visual impairment, by developing innovative medical devices and pharmaceutical products of the highest quality. Our mission is that each person may have: “Healthy eyes for a lifetime”.
The team
Marcos Mariz
CEO & Co-founder
Marcos developed ineye® technology as his PhD research study, in Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Coimbra.
His core research interests are the synthesis of polymers for biomedical use and drug delivery systems.
Before founding INEYE PHARMA, Marcos worked 14 years on the R&D center of a pharmaceutical company where he managed an analytical development department.
“The simplicity and versatility of ineye® technology will make it a benchmark on ocular delivery”
Paula Ferreira
CTO & Co-founder
Paula is the Co-founder of INEYE PHARMA and a fulltime researcher at University of Coimbra.
Her specialization field is the development of polymeric materials for biomedical applications, namely as drug delivery systems.
Biochemist with a PhD in Chemical Engineering by University of Coimbra.
“The changes that ineye® will bring to the patients’ daily life will be outstanding.”
Helena Gil
Co-inventor and Material Science Advisor
Professor Helena Gil, is one of the main Portuguese specialist on biomaterials field and supervised the PhD thesis that led to ineye® development.
She is a full Professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Coimbra. She has got more than 200 papers in the area of polymeric biomaterials, 40 of them in the drug delivery systems.
“The ineye® technology is excellent due to the stability and biocompatibility of the material.”
Joaquim Murta
Co-inventor and Medical Advisor
Professor Joaquim Murta is the chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology of University Hospital Coimbra and full professor at the University of Coimbra.
He specialized in cornea (transplants, external diseases and refractive surgery) and paediatric Ophthalmology.
He has been member of several Portuguese and International ophthalmology organizations.
History
INEYE PHARMA was founded on 5th September 2017 by two biochemists of the University of Coimbra, Marcos Mariz and Paula Ferreira, the company CEO and CTO, respectively.
Despite the young age of the company, the two founders already developed other projects in the area of biomaterials for more than two decades. The idea of creating a start-up came as a need to marketing the ineye® technology, developed by Marcos during is PhD research since 2013.
Awards
The project has been awarded with several Portuguese and European prizes:
EIT Health Headstart Awards, Italy, July 2018
Finance and support in developing the business plan for the “ineye® – Healthy eyes for a lifetime. An ocular insert with drug delivery technology”.
Gold Award - EIT Health PhD Transition Fellowship, Portugal, November 2017
Awarded to Marcos Mariz as PhD student of the University of Coimbra, in the context of an international competition promoted by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology.
3rd Price of EIT Health Innostars, for Business Ideas, Italy, November 2017
with the project “ineye – Healthy eyes for a lifetime. An ocular insert with drug delivery technology”.
"InovC 2020" award, in the "Proof of Concept" typology, Portugal, August 2017
Awarded by the consortium that includes 10 nuclear partners amongst Entities of Higher Education, Incubators, Applied Research Centers and Science and Technology Parks.
ARRISCA C 2016 Prize, in the "Business Ideas" typology, Portugal, June 2017
Attributed by a set of Portuguese Institutions. Attributed to the ineye project – Development of an insert for ocular drug release.
"Best Business Idea" award, Portugal, June 2017
Awarded by the Institute for Support to Small and Medium Enterprises and Innovation (IAPMEI) to the ineye project – Development of an insert for ocular drug release – still in the scope of the Arrisca C 2016 contest.
