OCULIS HOLDING AG

Oculis Holding AG is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company whose primary business involves the development of new drugs. A core part of this development process requires preclinical animal testing to assess the safety and efficacy of its drug candidates before they can be tested in humans. The company’s lead product candidates, including OCS-01 for eye inflammation and Licaminlimab for dry eye disease, are in late-stage clinical trials, indicating they have progressed through this necessary animal testing phase.

This reliance on animal models is standard for the biopharmaceutical industry but constitutes commercial exploitation of animals under the exclusion policy. The company’s operations are built on this research and development pathway. While no specific, publicized incidents of animal cruelty were identified in the gathered evidence, the business model is intrinsically dependent on animal use. The scale of this activity is material to the company's operations, as advancing any therapeutic candidate to clinical trials is not possible without it.