Tag: PRIMA

5 articles

Industry News

Science Corporation names Darius Shahida President as PRIMA retinal implant enters commercial rollout

Science Corporation, Max Hodak's Alameda-headquartered neural engineering and brain-computer interface company, announced on 17 September 2026 that Chief Strategy Officer Darius Shahida has been appointed President in a dual role. Shahida joined full-time in January 2026 as CSO after eight years at Butterfly Network and after first participating in Science's Series B as an investor. He is the second senior Butterfly Network alumnus hired by Science this year; Nevada Sanchez, a Butterfly Network co-founder, joined as EVP Engineering on 29 July 2026. The Shahida appointment lands two months into the European commercial rollout of PRIMA, Science's photovoltaic subretinal implant for geographic atrophy in age-related macular degeneration, which received CE mark from DEKRA in July 2026 (30 European countries; commercial launch also covers the UK) and simultaneous FDA Breakthrough Device and Humanitarian Use Device designations. Science closed a $230 million Series C on 5 March 2026 from Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed, Y Combinator, IQT, Quiet Capital and others, bringing total capital raised to roughly $490 million since founding in 2021. Hodak remains CEO. The company operates from Alameda with offices in Paris and Research Triangle Park.

Sep 19

Industry News

Science Corp hires Butterfly Network's Nevada Sanchez as engineering chief as PRIMA commercial launch begins in Germany

Science Corporation appointed Butterfly Network co-founder Nevada Sanchez as Executive Vice President of Engineering on 29 July, one week after CE mark approval for the PRIMA retinal implant. Sanchez's remit spans PRIMA, the Biohybrid neural interface, the Vessel organ-perfusion programme, and the Science Foundry MEMS fabrication line. First commercial implants are expected in Germany this fall.

Jul 29

Industry News

AMD patients are reading letters again as PRIMA lands its CE mark in Europe

On Wednesday 22 July 2026, Science Corporation announced the European commercial launch of PRIMA, a two-millimetre subretinal photovoltaic chip that restores functional central vision in patients blinded by geographic atrophy from age-related macular degeneration. The CE mark, granted by DEKRA under the EU Medical Device Regulation, covers 30 European countries. The first commercial implant is expected in Germany. PRIMA is the first CE-marked implant to restore, rather than merely slow, central vision loss in AMD, and the FDA has granted it Humanitarian Use Device designations on the same day. Max Hodak's five-year-old company inherited the technology from Pixium Vision after the French developer's 2024 collapse.

Jul 22