San Diego Eye Bank

What San Diego Eye Bank does

San Diego Eye Bank is a 501(c)(3) California non-profit organization, founded in 1959 and headquartered at 3870 Murphy Canyon Road in San Diego. The organization recovers, processes, and distributes donated corneal, scleral, and other ocular tissues to hospitals, ophthalmologists, and eye care professionals for sight-restoration transplant procedures. It is EBAA-accredited, FDA-registered, and holds tissue bank licenses in California, Maryland, New York, and Canada, enabling cross-jurisdictional tissue allocation through its Tissue Allocation Services network.

The core technology is ocular tissue banking — recovery, evaluation, preservation, and allocation of donated human tissue — augmented by a secondary product line, AutoSerumDrops.com, which compounds autologous serum eye drops from a patient's own blood for chronic dry eye treatment. There is no disclosed software platform, digital marketplace, or AI/ML component; operations rely on standard healthcare distribution and a DonorBox integration for donation processing.

San Diego Eye Bank operates as a sales-led non-profit with two revenue streams: tissue provision fees from healthcare providers for transplant-grade ocular tissues, and sale of autologous serum eye drops to patients and clinicians. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is negotiated through healthcare provider relationships. The buyer base spans domestic (multi-state licensed) and international (Canada-export) healthcare providers, while mission-related donations and community support supplement operating funding.

Name

San Diego Eye Bank

Legal name

San Diego Eye Bank

Website

https://sdeb.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1959

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

San Diego Eye Bank is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1959 that recovers and distributes donated corneal and ocular tissues to hospitals and ophthalmologists for sight-restoration transplants, and also produces autologous serum eye drops for chronic dry eye treatment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ocular Tissue Banking

NAICS

Ophthalmic Goods Merchant Wholesalers (423460), Ophthalmic Goods Manufacturing (339115), Blood and Organ Banks (621991)

SIC

Ophthalmic Goods (3851), Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Retina & Vitreous Specialists (HLAKAKAE), Ocular Drug Delivery Devices (Eye Droppers/Inserts) (HLAHAIAL)

Keywords

• Ocular tissue banking
• Corneal transplantation
• Eye donation services
• Autologous serum drops
• Vision restoration

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Ocular Tissue Provision: Provision of donated corneal, scleral, and other ocular tissues to healthcare providers and patients requiring sight restoration procedures. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, revenue supports operational costs and mission activities.
2. AutoSerum Drops: Sale of autologous serum eye drops for chronic dry eye treatment, produced from the patient's own blood through a specialized process.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

San Diego Eye Bank recovers, screens, processes, preserves, and distributes donated human corneal, scleral, and other ocular tissues to ophthalmologists, hospitals, and eye care professionals for sight-restoration and preservation procedures. It also compounds and dispenses AutoSerum Drops, an advanced autologous serum eye drop treatment made from the patient's own blood for chronic dry eye. All activity is conducted under a 501(c)(3) non-profit, FDA-registered, EBAA-accredited framework with tissue bank licensure in California, Maryland, New York, and Canada.

Product overview

San Diego Eye Bank operates as a 501(c)(3) California non-profit organization providing donated ocular tissues for sight restoration. The core offering includes corneal, scleral, and other ocular tissues distributed through their Tissue Allocation Services. An affiliated product, AutoSerumDrops.com, provides an advanced treatment for chronic dry eyes using autologous serum eye drops. The organization has served patients in San Diego and worldwide for over 60 years since 1959.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Gift of Sight: The organization's core program focused on cornea and eye donation for sight restoration.
• AutoSerum Drops

Products and services

• Corneal and Ocular Tissue Donation Services Recovery, processing, preservation, and distribution of donated human corneal, scleral, and other ocular tissues to ophthalmologists, hospitals, and eye care professionals for sight-restoration and preservation transplant procedures. Operated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit under FDA registration and EBAA accreditation.
• AutoSerum Drops An advanced autologous serum eye drop product for chronic dry eye treatment, compounded from serum derived from the patient's own blood through a specialized process that delivers medicine directly to the eyes. Sold through AutoSerumDrops.com under California ASED licensure.
• Tissue Allocation Services Allocation and distribution coordination services that route processed ocular tissues from San Diego Eye Bank to medical professionals and institutions performing sight-restoration procedures.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Tissue Allocation ServicescoreOthersRelated entity providing tissue allocation coordination services. Tissue Allocation Services is a network organization that works with eye banks including San Diego Eye Bank for coordinating tissue distribution.
• AutoSerumDrops.comcoreOthersRelated website for San Diego Eye Bank's autologous serum eye drops product for chronic dry eye treatment. The product uses a special process using serum from the patient's own blood.
• SendIt.orgminorOthersRelated organizational network connection within the eye banking and tissue allocation ecosystem.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Ocular Science: Specialty ophthalmic therapeutics company offering autologous serum-derived eye drops and other dry eye treatments. Comparable to SDEB's AutoSerum Drops business as a focused player in the autologous serum eye drop category.
• Vital Tears: Provider of autologous serum eye drops for chronic dry eye treatment. Closely comparable to SDEB's AutoSerum Drops product line and represents the most direct competitive overlap in that adjacent therapeutic category.

Direct peers

• Georgia Eye Bank: Non-profit eye bank providing donated ocular tissue for transplant and research. Directly comparable as a similarly-sized, EBAA-accredited eye bank focused on corneal tissue recovery and distribution.
• Eversight: Multi-state U.S. eye bank network providing corneal and ocular tissue for transplant and research. Comparable to SDEB in mission, EBAA-accredited operations, and multi-jurisdictional tissue distribution model.
• Miracles in Sight: Non-profit eye bank serving the southeastern U.S. with corneal tissue recovery and distribution. Directly comparable as an EBAA-accredited, mission-driven eye bank of similar scale to SDEB.
• Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research: Non-profit eye bank and ocular research center recovering, processing, and distributing corneal tissue. Closely mirrors SDEB's 501(c)(3) non-profit eye banking model and transplant-focused mission.
• CorneaGen: One of the largest U.S. eye banks (formed via merger of SightLife and other entities), providing donated corneal tissue globally. Directly comparable to SDEB as a non-profit-turned-mission-driven ocular tissue provider serving ophthalmic surgeons.
• Cincinnati Eye Bank: EBAA-accredited regional eye bank recovering and distributing corneal tissue. Operates at a comparable scale and regulatory footprint to SDEB, serving ophthalmic surgeons in its region.

Others

• Donor Network West: Organ and tissue procurement organization serving Northern California and beyond. Comparable as a donor recovery partner in the broader tissue donation ecosystem that supplies eye banks like SDEB.

Broad incumbents

• MTF Biologics (formerly Tissue Banks International): Large tissue bank consortium that historically included ocular tissue services. A much larger incumbent in tissue banking with overlapping ocular offerings but a broader multi-tissue portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/san-diego-eye-bank
• Instagraminstagram.com/sandiegoeyebank
• Xx.com/sdeyebank

Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 San Diego Eye Bank