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Some corneal defects stop closing.
A persistent corneal epithelial defect remains open beyond the expected healing interval.
No drug is approved specifically for PCED. Based on our review of FDA-approved labels.4
Bioelectric control of corneal repair.
OcuRegen™, preclinical ophthalmic program
Corneal wounds generate measurable current. OcuRegen™ is a preclinical topical small-molecule program designed to amplify that current and improve epithelial closure.1
Scroll to follow the current from injury to objective
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Corneal injury generates wound current.
Epithelial injury creates a measurable endogenous electrical signal.
- Before injury
- 0.07µA/cm²
- After injury
- 0.41µA/cm²
Wound-edge current density in postmortem human donor corneas. Reid et al., Cornea, 2011
Published pharmacologic and ionic interventions increased the current more than twofold.R1
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Wound current creates an electric field at the wound edge.
The field provides a directional cue for epithelial cell migration and repair.R2
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OcuRegen is designed to amplify wound current.
A topical small-molecule program focused on pharmacologic amplification of corneal wound current.
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Improved epithelial closure is the objective.
The target outcome is improved epithelial closure.
Persistent corneal epithelial defects (PCED)
No drug is approved specifically for PCED.
Based on our review of FDA-approved labels.4
A persistent corneal epithelial defect remains open beyond the expected healing interval. Care can escalate from lubrication and bandage contact lenses to serum tears, amniotic membrane, tarsorrhaphy, grafting, or transplantation.
See selected public programsPublished corneal wound-current research
Wound current is measurable. Pharmacology can raise it.
Before injury: 0.07 µA/cm². After injury: 0.41 µA/cm².
- 45 min
- Measured peak
- 6 h
- Above unwounded baseline
- >2×
- Increase following published pharmacologic or ionic intervention
In postmortem human donor corneas, epithelial injury increased wound-edge current from 0.07 to 0.41 µA/cm². Published pharmacologic and ionic interventions increased the current more than twofold.R1
In rat cornea, interventions that raised or lowered wound current changed healing rate in the same direction in vivo.R2
Source: Reid et al., Cornea, 2011
Therapeutic approach
OcuRegen is designed to amplify wound current.
Published work established that corneal wound current can be measured and pharmacologically increased.R1 OcuRegen translates that biology into a topical small-molecule program for persistent epithelial defects.
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Corneal injury generates wound current
Epithelial injury creates a measurable endogenous electrical signal.
-
Wound current creates an electric field at the wound edge
The field provides a directional cue for epithelial cell migration and repair.R2
-
OcuRegen is designed to amplify wound current
A topical small-molecule program focused on pharmacologic amplification of corneal wound current.
-
Improved epithelial closure is the objective
The target outcome is improved epithelial closure.
Why cornea
Current and closure can be measured together.
Viable ex vivo human donor corneas allow electrical measurement at the wound margin alongside serial observation of epithelial closure.
- Topical delivery
- The program is designed for direct administration to the ocular surface.
- Electrical measurement
- Wound current can be quantified at the injury.
- Closure measurement
- Epithelial repair can be tracked over time.
Selected public PCED programs
A different biological lever in PCED.
Selected PCED programs target neurotrophic signaling, connexin43, or secretome biology. OcuRegen is designed around corneal wound current.
Corneal wound current
OcuRegen™Galvanis
- Modality
- Topical small-molecule program
- PCED status
- Preclinical
-
Neurotrophic signaling
CenegerminOxervate® in neurotrophic keratitis
- Modality
- Recombinant human NGF
- PCED status
- FDA-approved for neurotrophic keratitis; Phase 3 PCED trial recruiting
-
Connexin43
NEXAGON®lufepirsen ophthalmic gel
- Modality
- Antisense oligonucleotide
- PCED status
- Phase 2 PCED trial listed as recruiting; record last updated July 2025
-
Multifactor secretome biology
KPI-012active development suspended
- Modality
- Human MSC secretome
- PCED status
- Phase 2b missed its primary and key secondary endpoints; KALA reports active development is suspended while it evaluates strategic options
Selected public programs reviewed July 29, 2026.4
Team
Built on decades of bioelectric wound research.
Operating team
Cody Rasmussen-Ivey, PhD
Founder and CEO
Before founding Galvanis, Cody developed technology for a DARPA-funded bioelectric wound program and worked at Colossal Biosciences. His training is in molecular biology and bioinformatics.
Chaim Chernoff, PhD
Senior Scientist
Chaim is a Harvard-trained stem cell biologist and a co-first author of a Nature paper on epithelial regeneration.
Nancy Pohl, PhD
Business Development and Strategy
Nancy holds a Harvard PhD, has training in therapeutics, and has worked in technology assessment at Boston Children’s.
Advisors
Min Zhao, MD, PhD
Scientific Advisor, Bioelectric Wound Repair
Min Zhao is a professor of ophthalmology at UC Davis. His laboratory established methods to measure corneal wound current and showed that it can be pharmacologically increased. He advises Galvanis on electrophysiology and study design.
Mark Mannis, MD, FACS
Clinical Advisor
Mark Mannis is a cornea and ocular surface specialist and former chair of ophthalmology at UC Davis. His career spans corneal surgery, ocular surface disease, and clinical research.
Charles Legg
Development and Operations Advisor
Charles brings more than 30 years in biotech and pharma, including Shire, bluebird bio and Solid Biosciences, and is the former CEO of Zea Biosciences.
ProgramSelected for the Fall 2026 cohort of the NSF I-Corps Northeast Hub.
Partnering
Request the OcuRegen overview.
Non-confidential materials are available for scientific, development, partnering, and investment discussions.
Contact Galvanis
cody@galvanis.com
References
Selected publications.
- R1Modulating endogenous electric currents in human corneal wounds: A novel approach of bioelectric stimulation without electrodesReid et al., Cornea, 2011 (opens in new tab)
- R2Wound healing in rat cornea: the role of electric currentsReid et al., FASEB Journal, 2005 (opens in new tab)
- R3Electrical signals control wound healing through phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase-γ and PTENZhao et al., Nature, 2006 (opens in new tab)
- R4Specific ion fluxes generate cornea wound electric currentsReid et al., Communicative & Integrative Biology, 2011 (opens in new tab)
- R5Bioelectric Signaling: Role of Bioelectricity in Directional Cell Migration in Wound HealingZhao et al., Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 2022 (opens in new tab)