November 2014 | Ophthalmology Innovation Source

InnFocus

InnFocus Inc.’s MicroShunt glaucoma drainage implant is designed to reduce intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients. President and CEO Russell Trenary explained that the implant is made from a revolutionary and highly biocompatible material that is ultra-stable and does not degrade. In the past year, InnFocus has been conducting the first randomized controlled study against trabeculectomy,…

Avedro

Avedro’s KXL® System for accelerated cross-linking, as well as a family of riboflavin products, have been commercially available since 2010. Refractive correction pioneer and veteran David Muller, PhD, President & CEO, discussed the company’s most recent activities, expressing excitement about Avedro’s PiXL, a non-invasive refractive correction procedure, which uses only eye drops and light. Among other…

ForSight VISION5

ForSight VISION5 Inc. CEO John Maroney discussed his company’s novel, non-invasive insert system, Helios. Placed on the surface of the eye, under the eyelid, Helios enables glaucoma and ocular hypertensive patients to continually receive medication (such as “the drug of choice” prostaglandin A), eliminating their need to regularly administer eye drops. Results from a Phase…

Implandata Ophthalmic Products GmbH

Implandata Ophthalmic Products GmbH is developing a patient-operated, hand-held system, which works with an implantable micro sensor capable of measuring absolute intraocular pressure continuously or on demand. Company Co-founder and General Manager Max G. Ostermeier, MBA, explained that after the patient takes the measurement, the device sends the IOP data via GSM/modem to the patient’s…

IOPtima

Ronen Castro, CEO of Israeli company IOPtima Ltd., introduced the CLASS (CO2 Laser-Assisted Sclerectomy Surgery) procedure for glaucoma, which has results comparable to trabeculectomy, but is non-invasive. This was the company’s first year for commercial activity. In March it secured CFDA approval in China, and in the fourth quarter of this year it begins initial…

Mati Therapeutics

Mati Therapeutics Inc. is an early-stage company addressing the massive glaucoma market. Founder and CEO Robert Butchofsky discussed the main challenges to all glaucoma-focused sustained drug delivery platforms, and described Mati’s solution: the Evolute minimally invasive, sustained-delivery platform, which uses punctum plugs to deliver drugs for ocular diseases, particularly glaucoma. Evolute will enter a Phase…

Neurotech

Quinton Oswold, President and CEO of Neurotech Pharmaceuticals Inc., sees huge opportunity both in wet AMD and diabetic macular edema patients who need more extensive and longer lasting therapies. Neurotech’s Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT) platform provides long-term continuous delivery (2+years) of protein drugs directly into the vitreous of the eye. The company is developing multiple…

PowerVision

PowerVision Inc.’s FluidVision, an intraocular lens designed to treat presbyopia and/or cataracts, is the only technology that restores true accommodation, reported company President and CEO Barry Cheskin at the OIS forum. It does so by efficiently harnessing the natural muscular forces of accommodation in the eye to move fluids inside the lens. That fluid movement…

TearScience

TearScience Inc. CEO and Co-Founder Tim Willis emphasized that his company was founded for a single reason: to be the evaporative dry eye expert, and to develop a system to identify, diagnose, and treat Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, the root cause behind 90% of dry eye cases. He introduced for the first time TearScience’s LipiView II.…

WaveTec Vision Systems

WaveTec Vision Systems ORA system is the first intra-operative diagnostic tool on the market to enhance visual outcomes in cataract surgery. It allows surgeons, in real-time, to see incisions and intraocular lens (IOL) alignment to support optimal IOL positioning. Thomas G. Frinzi, the company’s President and CEO, announced to OIS attendees that WaveTec’s acquisition by…

Opening The Door For Premium IOLs

[creativ_pullleft colour=”light-gray” colour_custom=”” text=”Episode 017″] OIS stalwart Jack Holladay, MD shares details on the work of a task force comprised of representatives from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Food and Drug Administration charged with updating the regulatory agency’s Grid and developing a Guidance Document for Extended Depth of Focus and Accommodating IOLs. The…

Ocular Therapeutix Starting to Sprint

[creativ_pullleft colour=”light-gray” colour_custom=”” text=”Episode 016″] Prior to starting Ocular Therapeutix, Amar Sawhney, already a successful medtech entrepreneur, was a bit concerned about the unique challenges posed by the ophthalmology sector. Today, with the commercial launch of its ReSure Sealant underway and a successful IPO completed, Sawhney says he’s more than confident in the plan to…