What Lento Bio does

Lento Bio, Inc. is a privately held, preclinical-stage pharmaceutical company founded in 2022 as a Delaware C-Corporation and headquartered in Syracuse, New York within an Ichor Life Sciences biotech incubator facility. The company develops small-molecule therapeutics that target the molecular damage underlying age-related vision loss, with a primary focus on presbyopia, a universal, age-driven loss of near vision affecting approximately 1.8 billion people worldwide.

The company's lead asset, LB-01, is a topical eye drop prodrug designed to cross the cornea intact and convert to an active monothiol inside the eye that cleaves aberrant disulfide crosslinks and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the crystalline lens. The mechanism is intended to restore lens flexibility and natural accommodation, reversing the root cause of presbyopia rather than managing symptoms. In preclinical studies the company reports 51% rejuvenation of lens flexibility in a mouse in vivo model (p<0.0001 versus vehicle) and 41% restoration of human lens flexibility ex vivo after two days of treatment, and states superiority over the LACE asset (acquired for $465 million in 2016) across three independent assays. Lento Bio's pipeline additionally includes LB-01C, a topical formulation for cataract prevention, and LB-02, a small-molecule program for presbyopia in discovery.

Lento Bio is pre-revenue and has not yet filed for regulatory approval of any product. It is advancing LB-01 toward IND-enabling studies using proceeds from a $680,000 pre-seed round in September 2022 and an approximately $2.9 million Seed Stage A round in November 2025. The company is a portfolio company of Ichor Life Sciences, which serves as both a strategic incubator and an investor, and operates a medicinal chemistry collaboration with Dr. James Frederich's laboratory at Florida State University. Once LB-01 or any pipeline candidate reaches commercialization, distribution would follow standard prescription pharmaceutical channels; no commercial go-to-market partnerships are currently in place.

Name

Lento Bio

Legal name

Lento Bio, Inc.

Website

https://lentobio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lento Bio is a preclinical pharmaceutical company developing topical small-molecule therapeutics that reverse molecular crosslinks in the aging eye lens, with lead candidate LB-01 targeting presbyopia in approximately 1.8 billion affected individuals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ophthalmic Therapeutics

NAICS

Ophthalmic Goods Manufacturing (339115)

SIC

Ophthalmic Goods (3851)

akta.pro primary industry

Ophthalmic Regeneration (cornea/retina) (HLAAAGAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cornea, External Disease & Refractive Surgery (LASIK/PRK) (HLAKAKAF)

Keywords

• Ophthalmic therapeutics
• Presbyopia treatment
• Small molecule drugs
• Lens repair
• Age-related disease

Headquarters

HQ city

Potsdam

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Lento Bio is developing small-molecule therapeutics that repair molecular damage in the aging eye, beginning with LB-01, a topical eye drop prodrug that crosses the cornea and cleaves aberrant disulfide and AGE crosslinks in the crystalline lens to restore natural accommodation lost to presbyopia. The pipeline extends the same lens-softening platform to LB-01C (cataract prevention) and LB-02 (presbyopia), all currently in preclinical or IND-enabling stages.

Product overview

Lento Bio is a preclinical pharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of small molecule therapeutics for age-related ophthalmic conditions. The company's lead product is LB-01, a topical eye drop prodrug for presbyopia that works by restoring lens flexibility through reversal of molecular crosslinks. LB-01 is currently in IND-enabling studies. The pipeline also includes LB-01C (cataract prevention) and LB-02 (presbyopia), representing a platform approach to treating lens aging through anti-glycation and crosslink-cleaving mechanisms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LB-01 A first-in-class topical eye drop prodrug for presbyopia that crosses the cornea intact and converts to active drug inside the eye, where it cleaves aberrant disulfide and AGE crosslinks that stiffen the crystalline lens to restore natural accommodation. Currently in IND-enabling studies.
• LB-01C A topical eye drop formulation in development for cataract prevention, applying Lento Bio's anti-glycation and crosslink-cleaving platform to cataract indications; currently in preclinical stage.
• LB-02 A small molecule therapeutic in discovery phase for presbyopia, representing pipeline expansion beyond the LB-01 lead asset using an additional lens-aging mechanism.

Quantifiable outcome

• 51% rejuvenation of lens flexibility in vivo mouse model (p<0.0001 vs vehicle)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Florida State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 February 2023Official medicinal chemistry collaboration with Dr. James Frederich's lab at Florida State University. The collaboration focuses on developing novel variants of Lento Bio's lead compounds to optimize the eyedrop for reducing lens stiffness and treating presbyopia. The lab also synthesizes de novo compounds to potentially expand Lento Bio's pipeline. Dr. Frederich heads an NIH-funded research laboratory with expertise in developing complex natural products that modulate protein-protein interactions, with over $3 million in federal funding.
• Ichor Life SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 June 2022Lento Bio is an Ichor Life Sciences portfolio company, incubated and supported by Ichor's preclinical contract research organization. Ichor provides shared infrastructure, scientific talent, laboratory space, and collaborative ecosystem purpose-built for early-stage therapeutics development. Ichor CEO Dr. Kelsey Moody and CSO Dr. Aaron Wolfe have served as strategic advisors since Lento Bio's founding in 2022. Ichor led the $680,000 seed round with $400,000 investment and participated in the ~$2.9M Seed Stage A round. Lento Bio relocated to Ichor's new biotech incubator facility in Syracuse, NY in June 2024.
• Clarkson UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 June 2022Lento Bio was initially incubated at Clarkson University's Peyton Hall Biotechnology Incubator in Potsdam, NY at the time of its launch in June 2022. The company was the first startup company to join Ichor Life Sciences in establishing a North Country biotechnology cluster. Lento Bio relocated from this facility in June 2024 to Ichor's new Syracuse location.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• AbbVie (Allergan Aesthetics): AbbVie's Allergan Aesthetics division developed and markets Vuity (pilocarpine), the first FDA-approved eye drop for presbyopia. Direct competitor in the presbyopia therapeutics category, with established commercial infrastructure and physician adoption that Lento Bio will need to compete against at launch.
• Orasis Pharmaceuticals: Clinical-stage ophthalmology company developing CSF-1 (pilocarpine-based) eye drop for presbyopia. Direct peer targeting the same patient population and prescriber channel, though via a miotic mechanism rather than Lento Bio's lens-softening approach.
• Visus Therapeutics: Clinical-stage ophthalmic company developing BRIMOCHOL and BRIMOCHOL PF, investigational presbyopia eye drops. Direct competitor in presbyopia therapeutics with active late-stage clinical programs and overlapping prescriber targets.
• Eyenovia: Ophthalmic therapeutics company developing MicroLine (pilocarpine delivered via Optejet dispenser) for presbyopia. Direct peer developing eye-drop-based presbyopia therapeutics with proprietary delivery technology.
• Ocuphire Pharma: Late-clinical-stage ophthalmic company developing Nyxol (phentolamine) for presbyopia and other refractive indications. Direct competitor in presbyopia with active Phase 3 program targeting the same prescriber base.

Broad incumbents

• Glaukos Corporation: Established ophthalmic medical device and pharmaceutical company focused primarily on glaucoma, with expanding presence in broader ophthalmic therapeutics. Comparable as a publicly traded ophthalmology innovator with infrastructure Lento Bio would need at commercial scale.
• Bausch + Lomb: Diversified global ophthalmology company with established vision care and ophthalmic pharmaceuticals franchises. Comparable as a broad incumbent with reading-glasses (Biotrue, PreserVision) and emerging presbyopia-relevant product lines that overlap with Lento Bio's target market.

Emerging players

• Stuart Therapeutics: Early-clinical-stage ophthalmology company developing polyCol peptide therapeutics targeting collagen-damaging diseases including dry eye and potentially presbyopia-related lens pathology. Comparable as a small, lens-and-ocular-surface-focused emerging therapeutics developer.
• Aldeyra Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel small-molecule therapies for ocular and systemic inflammatory diseases. Comparable as a small-molecule-focused ophthalmic biotech at a similar stage of clinical maturity to where Lento Bio is heading.
• Aerie Pharmaceuticals: Ophthalmic pharmaceutical company focused on small-molecule therapeutics for glaucoma, dry eye, and retinal diseases (Rocklatan, Rhopressa). Comparable as a small-molecule ophthalmology biotech with established commercial experience relevant to Lento Bio's future launch pathway.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lentobio
• Facebookfacebook.com/lentobio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lento Bio