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LA JOLLA, Calif.—Topcon Healthcare Inc., a global leader in digital health and ocular data solutions, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Toku, Inc., a San Diego-based artificial intelligence (AI) health technology company. Founded in New Zealand, Toku’s platforms, CLAiR, BioAge, and MyKidneyAI use standard color retinal images to assess cardiovascular risk, biological aging, and chronic kidney disease in real time. In making the announcement, the company indicates that this move “advances Topcon Healthcare’s vision of Healthcare from the Eye, expanding oculomics to empower primary care and eyecare with preventive medicine.”
Integrating Toku’s advanced algorithms into its connected care ecosystem, Topcon Healthcare is expecting to make non-invasive, AI-driven risk screening widely accessible across primary care, eyecare, and telehealth environments, the company advised. It also looks to leverage Harmony, its digital platform, to deliver AI health assessments based on routine retinal imaging, creating a scalable global network to advance Healthcare from the Eye. In collaboration with the Alliance for Healthcare from the Eye, this initiative seeks to improve population health outcomes, expand access, and reduce overall health care costs, the company stated.
“Toku was founded on the principle of early disease detection, even before patients develop symptoms,” said Dr. Ehsan Vaghefi, CEO of Toku, Inc. “Becoming part of Topcon Healthcare, Inc. enables us to realize our mission of delivering heart and kidney health screening at an unprecedented scale, potentially saving lives with each scan worldwide.” To date, Toku has analyzed more than 4.3 million de-identified retinal images linked to clinical data, fueling predictive models that can identify individuals at high risk for serious disease years before traditional tests, often before any noticeable symptoms appear, the group noted.
“This partnership accelerates not only regulatory clearances and commercialization of new imaging-based health screening solutions, but also the growth of the broader oculomics field,” said Ali Tafreshi, CEO and president of Topcon Healthcare, Inc. “As Toku transforms every eye exam into a comprehensive health assessment, Topcon’s global infrastructure will help deliver scalable, affordable AI diagnostics to clinicians and patients worldwide.”
Dr. Vaghefi also noted that, “Toku is grateful for the foundational support provided by National Vision, Inc., whose strategic, early investment and partnership has been instrumental in helping Toku refine its breakthrough AI technologies. We are deeply grateful to the National Vision team and look forward to their continued support in our next chapter.”
In 2023, Topcon Healthcare and National Vision invested $8 million in Series A funding for Toku, Inc.’s, AI retinal imaging technology, as reported in VMAIL.
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