Pykus Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2016 to develop a dissolvable intraocular surgical device to make retinal surgery less painful and more successful. The co-founders were ophthalmology residents at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School when they developed a novel hydrogel to replace the use of intraocular gas during retinal surgery. This innovation will eliminate the extreme burden placed on patients including the requirement for face-down positioning, inability to see for weeks, and inability to fly for weeks.