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June 13 2018

Keeping the MIGS Explosion in Perspective

WASHINGTON, DC - When Stanford University ophthalmology professor Kuldev Singh, MD, MPH, underwent medical training 25 years ago, there were maybe five to six non-pharmaceutical ...

June 6 2018

OIS Index Breaks 1,000 as Rally in Ophthalmic Stocks Rolls On

The OIS Index returned to four-digit territory in May, surpassing 1,000 for the first time since the index was launched in October 2016. The OIS ...

May 31 2018

Anti-VEGF Biosimilars Target a Shifting Market

Developers of FYB201 may be getting a leg up in the race for a Lucentis biosimilar with the publication of interim results that confirm the ...

May 23 2018

Eye Care Plays Big at Gene and Cell Meeting

Eye care commanded a key stage at the 21st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) last week in Chicago. ...

May 16 2018

How Badly Does Takeda Want Shire’s Ophthalmology Franchise?

Shire plc's decision last week to accept the $62 billion acquisition offer by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. has fed speculation in the pharma trade press ...

May 10 2018

A String of Pearls for Navigating the FDA

WASHINGTON, DC - Having OIS@ASCRS 2018 here provided the perfect opportunity for representatives of the US Food and Drug Administration to impart wisdom on how ...

May 2 2018

Ophthalmic Stocks’ Rally Rolls Through April

The OIS Index gained 5.2% in April, on the heels of a 4.4% gain in March. Ophthalmic stocks have far outperformed key market benchmarks over ...

April 20 2018

15 Things We Learned at OIS@ASCRS

Here are 15 takeaways from last week's OIS@ASCRS 2018. Barry Cheskin of PowerVision reported on a pilot study of 27 patients who had the FluidVision ...

April 11 2018

Lurker Describes Next Steps for EyePoint

Within a week Nancy Lurker went from president and CEO of what had been known as an R&D company to the same title at a ...

April 4 2018

41 Things On Tap at OIS@ASCRS

There are 41 different sessions, panels, and presentations happening at OIS@ASCRS 2018 - including five different breakout sessions on everything from dry eye to emerging ...

April 4 2018

OIS Index Outperforms Market in Another Volatile Month

The OIS Index gained 4.4% in March, far outperforming its key benchmarks during another volatile month for the markets. The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index declined by ...

March 28 2018

AI and Retinal Disease: More Approaches Keep Emerging

Artificial intelligence (AI) is making waves in diagnosing retinal disease. Computers with this technology can be quicker and less expensive than a doctor, but can ...

Emerging Gene Therapy Candidate Advances

March 22 2018

MeiraGTx Gene Therapy Candidate for Achromatopsia Moves Forward

An emerging gene therapy candidate for the treatment of inherited eye disease has taken a step forward with MeiraGTx announcing that it has received Priority ...

Can ODs Take Over Ocular Surface Disease?

March 9 2018

Will ODs Take Over Ocular Surface Disease Treatment?

Over the past decade, the treatment of ocular surface conditions such as dry eye and meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) has evolved from "pats on the ...

March 2 2018

OIS Index Follows Market Downward During a Rocky February

The OIS Index declined by 4.2% in February, tracking stock market benchmarks during a volatile month. The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index suffered a slightly larger decline ...

February 28 2018

FILLY Results Keep Apellis on Track

Apellis Pharmaceuticals' plans to begin the Phase III trial of its complement C3 inhibitor candidate APL-2 for treatment of geographic atrophy received a boost last ...

February 23 2018

AI in Ophthalmology Takes Steps Forward

A couple of artificial intelligence platforms in ophthalmology have taken significant steps forward in the past few weeks, one on this side of the Atlantic, ...

February 14 2018

A Look Behind ReVision Optics’ Shuttered Door

By Larry Haimovitch and Richard Mark Kirkner Someday for some company, the business of selling corneal inlays to treat presbyopia could be very lucrative, but ...

February 7 2018

OIS Index Delivers Small Gain, But Lags Benchmarks in January

In January, the OIS Index scratched out a small gain, but underperformed its relevant benchmarks. The OIS Index gained 0.3%, compared with gains of 7% ...

February 6 2018

What’s Happening in the Month Ahead: February 2018

Clinical Trial Updates Due at Angiogenesis Meeting Investigators will present a host of updates on clinical trials in retina at Angiogenesis, Exudation and Degeneration 2018 ...

January 25 2018

Allergan Ready for a Future of Generic Competitors

At the 36th annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Allergan CEO Brent Saunders said a disconnect exists between the company’s 2017 results and ...

January 17 2018

With Early Rhopressa ‘Present,’ Aerie Plots Next Steps

Aerie Pharmaceuticals’ CEO and chairman Vicente Anido Jr., PhD, says the company got “an early Christmas present” when the Food and Drug Administration approved Rhopressa ...

January 10 2018

Next for Spark: Working Out Payment Models

As the first drug company to get Food and Drug Administration Approval for a gene therapy to treat an inherited disease, Spark Therapeutics has also ...

January 4 2018

OIS Index Declines Despite Positive Milestone Achievements

December was a month of positive milestones for key companies in the OIS Index. On December 18, more than two months before its February 28 ...

December 13 2017

Foundation Fighting Blindness in Fight to Preserve Orphan Drug Tax Credit

As House and Senate negotiators reportedly reached agreement on a tax-reform package, the fate of the orphan drug tax credit remained uncertain. Advocates have been ...

December 13 2017

What’s Moving Through the R&D Pipeline in 2018

Instead of looking at the year past, OIS Weekly is wrapping up 2017 by looking at the year ahead. Here’s a rundown of significant regulatory ...

December 6 2017

What’s Happening in the Month Ahead: December 2017

Can Conference Save Orphan Drug Tax Credit? Orphan drug developers will be watching closely in the next few days as the GOP’s tax reform package ...

December 6 2017

OIS Index Outperforms Biotech Stocks for Third Straight Month

For the third straight month, the OIS Index outperformed the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. The OIS Index gained 2.6% in November, nearly matching the performance of ...

November 29 2017

Masters of Industry: Digitization, Millennials, and the Future of Device and Pharma

The forces driving ophthalmic innovation are digitization and demographics, namely in the emergence of millennials, and how the major players in ophthalmology respond to those ...

November 15 2017

Seen and Heard at AAO 2017: Reporter’s Notebook

Here’s a review of clinical trial results and new technology rolled out at the latest gathering of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in New Orleans. ...

November 8 2017

Workshop’s Message: Handle Data with Care

GAITHERSBURG, MD – Digital Health devices can help detect eye disease in various health-care settings, although ophthalmic practices need to carefully monitor data they generate, ...

November 2 2017

OIS Index Outperforms Biotechs but Lags Devices and Broader Market in October

The OIS Index is a composite of ophthalmic growth stocks that tracks the investment performance of our sector. Our goal is to highlight ophthalmology investment ...

OIS@AAO 2017: A Quick Look at the Agenda

November 1 2017

What You’ll Miss if You’re not at OIS@AAO 2017

Let’s just say there’s too much happening at OIS@AAO 2017 next week to capsulize it all in a tidy preview, but with the ninth iteration ...

Learn how the Ophthalmic Digital Health workshop fits with the FDA Commissioner's vision

October 18 2017

Workshop Part of Gottlieb’s Digital Plan

When Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, announced a new agency-wide initiative last summer called the Digital Health Innovation Plan, the goal was ...

Wall Street's price speculation about Spark Therapeutics’ Luxturna gene therapy

October 18 2017

Putting a Price on FDA’s Nod to Spark Therapeutics

With the unanimous endorsement from a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee that Spark Therapeutics’ Luxturna gene therapy for biallelic RPE65 mutation-associated retinal dystrophy should ...

October 11 2017

FDA-led Workshop Puts Focus on Ophthalmic Digital Health

The workshop on Ophthalmic Digital Health, a collaboration of the Food and Drug Administration and a host of medical societies that aims to explore safety ...

October 4 2017

Who Will be Making News in October?

What’s Happening in the Month Ahead: October 2017 The Food and Drug Administration along with a host of professional societies, including the American Academy of ...

October 4 2017

Solid September Closes OIS Index 1st Year

One year ago, we launched the OIS Index, a composite of ophthalmic growth stocks, to track the investment performance of our sector. Our goal is ...

September 28 2017

Handicapping the Entries in the Geographic Atrophy Space

The race to find an effective treatment for geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) for which no approved treatment exists, ...

September 21 2017

What’s Ahead for the Zeiss-Veracity Union

When Veracity Innovations LLC launched its new product at the 2017 American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting in Los Angeles, the company was ...

Integrins Gain Traction in Ophthalmology

September 14 2017

With Integrins, Necessity Really is the Mother of all Invention

Stopping growth factors that create damage in the eye has proven lucrative. Lucentis (ranibizumab, Roche/Genentech) achieved sales of $1.8 billion in 2016 outside the US ...

September 6 2017

Dog Days of Summer: OIS Index Posts Modest Decline in August

Last October, we launched the OIS Index, a composite of ophthalmic growth stocks, to track the investment performance of our sector. Our goal is to ...

August 23 2017

Reporter’s Notebook at ASRS: Four from the Podium

The annual meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists featured four days of scientific sessions. Among the notable updates on key clinical trials from ...

August 16 2017

Eight Qualities Funders Look for in the Seed Stage

Candor, passion, realism, talent, flexibility, self awareness, humility, and focus are all qualities seed-stage benefactors look for in a start-up founder, a panel of fund ...

August 1 2017

Major Ophthalmic Pipeline Developments Drive OIS Index in July

In October, we launched the OIS Index, a composite of ophthalmic growth stocks, to track the investment performance of our sector. Our goal is to ...

July 26 2017

Double Shot Gives Spark Therapeutics a Jolt

Spark Therapeutics is riding a double shot of positive news about its gene therapy treatment for RPE65-mediated inherited retinal disorders that’s given its stock a ...

July 19 2017

Inotek May Be for Sale, But Who Will Buy?

With another failed trial of its glaucoma candidate trabodenoson in hand, Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp. is pondering options that could include selling the company, but finding ...

July 11 2017

AGTC Makes Moves with Cash in Hand

As Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC) heads into the summer with encouraging results for two of its lead candidates using the adeno-associated virus-based gene technology ...

July 5 2017

First-Half Performance: OIS Index Tracks US Stock Market but Lags Healthcare Benchmarks

We see ophthalmology as one of the more innovative specialties in healthcare, but does that excitement translate to the public markets? In October, we launched ...

June 28 2017

Is AMD Drug-Treatment Landscape Shifting?

When Novartis last week announced positive outcomes from two Phase III trials for new age-related macular degeneration (AMD) drug brolucizumab (RTH258), it seemed the other ...

June 21 2017

With CE Mark for Glaucoma Microsensor in Pocket, Implandata Looks to US

Now that the Implandata Ophthalmic Products has received approval to commercialize its implantable glaucoma-monitoring device in the European Union, it’s setting its sights on lining ...

June 14 2017

How Mynosys is Gearing Up to Take on Femto

Now that Mynosys Cellular Devices has received FDA 510(k) clearance for its Zepto Capsulotomy System for cataract surgery, the company is planning its US launch ...

June 1 2017

OIS Index Declines in May Despite Positive Pipeline News from Aerie

In October, we launched the OIS Index, a composite of ophthalmic growth stocks, to track the investment performance of our sector. Our goal is to ...

May 31 2017

Déjà vu: Aerie Announces Mercury 2 Results, Stock Jumps

With the recent report of successful top-line Phase III results of its fixed-dose glaucoma candidate Roclatan, Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. has seen its stock price soar ...

May 19 2017

Dry Eye Newbie Xiidra Grabs Large Market Share

During the run-up to the launch of Shire’s dry eye drug Xiidra (lifitegrast), it seemed as though everyone was wondering what kind of threat – ...

May 1 2017

OIS Index Posts Third Straight Positive Month in April

In October, we launched the OIS Index, a composite of ophthalmic growth stocks, to track the investment performance of our sector. Our goal is to ...

April 20 2017

With Positive Phase I/IIa, Opthea Looks to Next Step

Coming off word that the Phase I/IIa clinical trial of its novel anti-VEGF candidate for treatment of age-related macular degeneration exceeded expectations, along with positive ...

April 12 2017

Gottlieb Brings VC Toolkit to FDA

Soon-to-be FDA commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, MD, is well positioned to understand where the medtech and biotech communities are coming from. He’s been a partner at ...

April 5 2017

AXIM Rolls Medical Marijuana Ball in Ophthalmology

Medical marijuana has quickly gained acceptance as a viable treatment for a variety of health conditions, such as the side effects of chemotherapy, the neurodegenerative ...

March 31 2017

OIS Index Tracks Flat US Stock Market and Healthcare Sector Performance in March

In October, we launched the OIS Index, a composite of ophthalmic growth stocks, to track the investment performance of our sector. Our goal is to ...

March 29 2017

How Regeneron Aims to Stay on Message With VR/AR APP

Virtual reality has been used to train surgeons, to evaluate balance control and associated fall risk in glaucoma patients, and, more recently, to create simulations ...

March 22 2017

Allergan Makes a Play in Gene Editing

With its licensing agreement to develop genome-editing programs with Editas Medicine to treat retinal diseases, Allergan has made a move to partner with one of ...

March 15 2017

Clearside Goes All in for CLS-TA

Late last year, when developers of agents that combined anti-platelet derived growth factor with an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-PDGF/anti-VEGF) to treat wet age-related macular ...

March 3 2017

Deal between Minnesota Eye Consultants and Waud Capital Signals Change Coming to Ophthalmology

Two years ago, the principals at Minnesota Eye Consultants recognized the time had come to find a way to expand the practice. But doing so ...

March 2 2017

OIS Index Rebounds – Delivers Positive Performance in February

In October, we launched the OIS Index, a composite of ophthalmic growth stocks, to track the investment performance of our sector. Our goal is to ...

February 22 2017

What’s Behind the Heat-up in Glaucoma Innovation

Kicking off the sixth annual Glaucoma 360-New Horizons Forum held recently in San Francisco, co-founder and co-chair Adrienne Graves boldly proclaimed, “Glaucoma is hot.” However, ...

February 15 2017

Roche/Genentech’s Second Move to Protect Lucentis Franchise

With its patents on Lucentis set to expire in a few years and clinical trials of at least three Lucentis biosimilars underway, Roche’s recent acquisition ...

February 9 2017

Is DR Just the Start for Google Brain?

A team of investigators recently reported online in the Journal of the American Medical Association1 that a Google algorithm allows computers to diagnose diabetic retinopathy ...

February 2 2017

OIS Index Delivers Steadier Performance in January

In October, we launched the OIS Index, a composite of ophthalmic growth stocks, to track the investment performance of our sector. Our goal is to ...

February 1 2017

Encore Vision Delivers Big Payday to Angel Investors

Big winners in Novartis AG’s acquisition of Encore Vision for $465 million are members of a network of angel investors in Fort Worth, TX, that ...

January 26 2017

Alcon Turnaround Has Novartis Exploring Spin-off

In announcing that Novartis AG is exploring spinning off its Alcon eye-care business, Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez acknowledged that Alcon has made progress in the ...

January 18 2017

Is Trump Opening New Front in War on Drug Prices?

Pharma executives were beaming as their stock prices soared in the days after Donald Trump’s poll-defying victory, and their sentiments rose even higher with the ...

January 11 2017

After Phase III Disappoints, Inotek Looks to Fixed-Dose Combination

As Inotek Pharmaceuticals sifts through the disappointing Phase III top-line results for its lead clinical candidate trabodenoson and the 66% stock price slide that followed, ...

OIS Index Underperforms Benchmarks in First Quarter Since Inception

In October, OIS partnered with EyeQ Research to launch the OIS Index, a composite of ophthalmic growth stocks, to track the investment performance of our ...

December 7 2016

What’s Next for Sun Ophthalmics After BromSite Launch?

With the launch last week of BromSite to treat inflammation and prevent pain after cataract surgery, India-based Sun Pharma has taken a significant step in ...

part-two-three-novel-partnerships-11-30-16

November 30 2016

Three Novel Partnerships in Ophthalmology (Part Two)

Two weeks ago, we began reviewing collaborations between ophthalmic start-ups and institutions or groups that traditionally haven’t been involved in developing medical technology, such as ...

November 22 2016

As Novartis Ponders Alcon’s Sale, Who Is Best Owner?

So when does a rumor cease being a rumor and become a reality? It remains to be seen whether all the recent and persistent rumors ...

November 8 2016

Three Novel Partnerships in Ophthalmology

The past year has witnessed the formation of several collaborations between ophthalmic start-ups and institutions or groups that traditionally haven’t been involved in developing medical ...

Corneal Inlays Garnering Attention – and Investment - Eye On Innovation Article - Healthegy

November 1 2016

Corneal Inlays Garnering Attention – & Investment

Recent positive reports about two FDA-approved corneal inlays may yet give this market sector a boost heading into 2017. Irvine, CA-based AcuFocus was the first ...

November 1 2016

OIS Index Follows Biotech Stocks Lower in October

At last month’s OIS@AAO, we introduced the OIS Index. To learn more about its origins and intent, listen to this OIS Podcast interview. By Michael ...

October 5 2016

Regeneron Looks Ahead to ANG2 Antibody After Anti-PDGFR-β Disappoints

Now that Regeneron has announced that its rinucumab-Eylea (aflibercept) combination treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) failed to meet the primary endpoint of a ...

September 21 2016

J&J/AMO Deal Remaking Landscape

The evolution of the ophthalmology sector continued with last week’s news that Johnson & Johnson would pay $4.3 billion to acquire Abbott Medical Optics, the ...

September 8 2016

How Hot is MIGS?

The string of approvals and acquisitions in the microinvasive glaucoma surgery space has been one of ophthalmology’s more promising stories. The news shone a bright ...

August 25 2016

Following Xiidra Approval, a Look Back at OIS@ASCRS Dry Eye Breakout Session

The FDA approval last week of Xiidra (lifitegrast ophthalmic solution) from Shire plc represents a major milestone for the dry eye market. Restasis, which was ...

August 3 2016

Mazzo: Retina Remains the “Biggest Frontier”

In this week’s OIS Podcast, we spoke with Jim Mazzo, the head of Carl Zeiss Meditec’s new ophthalmology unit. In the podcast, Mazzo hits upon ...

OIS board member Jim Mazzo joins Carl Zeiss Meditec

July 27 2016

Carl Zeiss Meditec Taps Mazzo To Lead Consolidated Unit

Carl Zeiss Meditec has moved to consolidate its diagnostic and surgical products in ophthalmology and has brought in well-known ophthalmology industry veteran, James V. Mazzo, ...

July 26 2016

Google–Moorfields Venture Eyes AI to Speed Diagnosis with OCT

Google’s DeepMind Health artificial intelligence project and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London have teamed up for a five-year venture to develop an algorithm using one ...

July 21 2016

Is Surprising Raindrop Approval a Sign of Friendlier FDA?

One of the takeaways that ophthalmic innovators might be reading into the unexpected and somewhat sudden approval of the Raindrop Near Vision Inlay is that ...

July 13 2016

Shire’s Xiidra “Important” Addition to Dry Eye

Two years ago, Robert Dempsey joined Shire to build the pharma giant’s new ophthalmology unit. Rather than acquire a portfolio of established products to build ...

June 29 2016

Can Ocular Therapies Diversify Biogen Portfolio?

Biotechnology company Biogen (Cambridge, MA) recently committed $20 million into a collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania to co-develop gene therapies using next-generation adeno-associated virus ...

What’s Next for Acucela? Wait and See - Eye On Innovation Article - OIS - Healthegy

June 22 2016

What’s Next for Acucela? Wait & See

Now that Acucela and Otsuka Pharmaceutical of Japan have torn up their collaborative deal to develop emixustat, which failed to meet its primary endpoint in ...

June 15 2016

Stem Cell Therapies for AMD Making Strides

In 2013, the first clinical study of stem cells in ophthalmology set high hopes that companies may one day develop cell-based therapies for neovascular age-related ...

Jonhson & Johnson’s Plans for Smart and 3D Printable Contact Lenses - Eye On Innovation Article - Helathegy

June 8 2016

J&J’s Plans for Smart & 3D Printable Contact Lenses

Personalized contact lenses that can relieve eye allergies, reduce glare and eyestrain, and treat presbyopia are all concepts moving through the pipeline at Johnson & ...

June 3 2016

Eye on Five – May Edition

Burden of Eye Problems to Double By 2050 Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) Roski Eye Institute reported in JAMA Ophthalmology that the ...

Omeros Sees the Corner and Is Ready to Turn - Eye On Innovation Article - Healthegy

May 31 2016

Omeros Sees the Corner & is Ready to Turn

A year out from getting US approval of its Omidria agent for cataract surgery, Omeros has bulked up its sales force in anticipation of a ...

May 18 2016

Why Consolidation Has Not Tamped Down Innovation

Despite what some see as consolidation among drug and device companies in ophthalmology, a number of factors continue to drive innovation – from unmet needs ...

Mixing MIGS and Meds - Eye On Innovation Article

May 3 2016

Mixing MIGS & Meds

Long gone are the days where glaucoma surgery meant an invasive procedure with the likelihood of a serious complication developing down the road – while ...

April 27 2016

Eye on Five – April Edition

FDA Approves Avedro Corneal Collagen Cross-linking Platform The US Food and Drug Administration finally gave a green light to Avedro Inc. for its KXL System, ...

April 27 2016

Iridex Makes its Move in Glaucoma

Over the past couple of years, there has been no shortage of positive news about the glaucoma space. While minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) has ...

April 19 2016

Avedro Finally Secures FDA Approval

On Monday, Avedro Inc. announced the US Food and Drug Administration finally gave a green light for its KXL System in corneal collagen cross-linking for ...

April 13 2016

Outlook for Combination Therapies in Retinal Disease

When Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Bayer announced their collaboration to develop and commercialize a combination therapy using Regeneron’s vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) trap aflibercept (Eylea) ...

With Pfizer Deal, Allergan Looks Ahead: Could B+L Be In Its Sights? - Eye on Innovation

April 6 2016

Without Pfizer Deal, Allergan Looks Ahead: Could B+L be in its Sights?

Now that Pfizer and Allergan have mutually agreed to terminate their proposed merger, Allergan CEO Brent Saunders told analysts Wednesday morning that the company is ...

March 31 2016

Eye on Five – March Edition

Regeneron, Bayer Join to Develop Combined Therapy Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Bayer announced an agreement to jointly develop a combination therapy of the angiopoietin2 (Ang2) antibody ...

March 29 2016

The Biosimilars Race for AMD Treatments Is On

Formycon, the German-based developer of biosimilar agents, may be getting a leg up in the race to develop biosimilars for intravitreal anti-VEGF agents as it ...

March 23 2016

What’s New with Three Sustained-Release Drug Platforms

Most ophthalmic drugs are delivered by topical application or direct injection into the vitreous, and many are limited by difficulties in sustaining therapeutic drug levels ...

Mixed Topline Results Don’t Sidetrack Rhopressa Plans - Eye on Innovation

March 16 2016

Mixed Results Don’t Sidetrack Rhopressa Plans

Despite tepid investor response to safety data from the latest comparative trial of its lead-candidate glaucoma agent, Aerie Pharmaceuticals says it is still on track ...

March 15 2016

The OIS Lifetime Innovator Award goes to…

Roger Steinert, MD For A Lifetime of Exceptional Contributions to Ophthalmic Innovation and Entrepreneurship Dr. Steinert’s advanced skill and excellent surgical results have ...

March 9 2016

Highlights from AGS: New Surgical Devices, Novel Therapeutics

This year’s American Glaucoma Society annual meeting feted novel medications designed to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with glaucoma. To date, available medications and ...

Argus II Implant as Good at 5 Years as It Is at 3 - Eye on Innovation

March 2 2016

Second Sight’s Argus II Shows Strong Performance at the Five-Year Mark

With news that the global market for retinal implants is expected to skyrocket to $1.1 billion by 2022, investigators of Second Sight Medical Products’ Argus ...

February 29 2016

Eye on Five – February Edition

The Transcend acquisition tops the list, but February was a promising month for ophthalmology. Alcon Leaps into MIGS with Transcend With its acquisition of Transcend ...

February 23 2016

Alcon Makes Big Move in MIGS

With Transcend, Alcon Gains a Foothold in Glaucoma Device Market Contributed by Larry Haimovitch and Richard Mark Kirkner With its move to acquire Transcend Medical ...

February 19 2016

How MIGS is Remaking the Glaucoma Market

Glaucoma is a chronic degenerative disease whose incidence increases significantly with age. According to the World Health Organization, it is the second leading cause of ...

Drugs & Devices for Dry Eye - Ophthalmology Innovation Summit 2015

February 16 2016

2016 Promises to Disrupt Dry Eye

This year promises to deliver disruption to the dry eye disease market as companies work to roll out new drugs, devices, and diagnostics. Shire may ...

Putting Brakes on IPO, Apellis Lines Up Private Funding - Eye on Innovation

February 16 2016

Apellis IPO Road Show Takes Different Route

Putting Brakes on IPO, Apellis Lines Up Private Funding As the stock market took its 2016 nosedive, geographic atrophy drug developer Apellis Pharmaceuticals joined the ...

February 10 2016

Close-Up Look at Progress in Surgical Presbyopia Correction

Presbyopia, the age-related loss of accommodation and near/reading vision, typically begins at about age 40 and affects nearly everyone over age 50. This huge opportunity ...

February 10 2016

Avalanche’s Post-AMD Pivot Takes Step Outside Ophthalmology

How far will Avalanche Biotechnologies Inc.’s pivot take it outside of ophthalmology? Following the release of disappointing topline results of its lead gene therapy candidate ...

February 4 2016

FDA Looking to Follow Up on Year of “Firsts”

If you’re an executive at an ophthalmic drug development company and desire a frank discussion on regulatory issues that are critical to your business, you’d ...

February 3 2016

Glaucoma Getting a Wake-Up Call

SAN FRANCISCO — Thanks to a pending boom in minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) devices, the global glaucoma device market is poised to come out ...

OIS@AAO - Combination Therapies for Wet AMD & DME

February 3 2016

Exploring the Keys to Combination Therapies in Retina

The keys to developing combination therapies to treat retinal diseases lie in clinicians being able to better identify biomarkers for disease progression, developing strategies for ...

December 17 2015

Taking in the View of 2015 & Beyond

This year’s Ophthalmology Innovation Summits are behind us. We’re piling content onto OIS.NET including the 2015 Year in Review by OIS Founder and Co-Chair Emmett ...

December 9 2015

Next Few Months Important for Clearside

The next few months will be important for Clearside Biomedical, one of the companies pioneering drug delivery to the suprachoroidal space. The company expects by ...

December 2 2015

Saunders Seen As Key Man in Pfizer-Allergan Mashup

Last week, Pfizer and Allergan executives gave us a lot to chew on over the Thanksgiving weekend. The $160 billion combination will create the world’s ...

November 24 2015

Saunders Promises ‘Greater Impact’ on Ophthalmology

With the planned combination of Pfizer and Allergan to create the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, Brent Saunders, a key player in two significant acquisitions of ...

November 19 2015

A Record-Setting OIS

Last week’s Ophthalmology Innovation Summit drew nearly 1,000 attendees to Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood hotel, marking the largest OIS event we’ve held yet. The size ...

November 12 2015

Ophthalmology Innovation Summit Gives Nod to Successful Public Start-ups

Largest ever gathering will showcase recent IPO Companies, early stage companies and speech by Allergan’s CEO LAS VEGAS, NV (PRWEB) NOVEMBER 12, 2015 The seventh ...

November 11 2015

Biggest OIS Ever Set to Deliver News & Insights

The maturation and advance of the ophthalmology sector will be fully evident tomorrow as we host the largest Ophthalmology Innovation Summit in its seven-year history. ...

November 3 2015

Looking Deep at Extended Depth-of-Focus IOLs

Multifocal IOLs, perhaps the best established solution to the problem of enabling post-cataract patients to see clearly at all distances, work by incorporating discrete refractive ...

October 28 2015

Transcend’s Move Toward PMA

Well, the MIGs market could get a little more crowded. This week, Transcend Medical announced it had submitted the final module of its PMA application ...

October 21 2015

FDA Making the Rounds in Ophthalmology

Over the past week, news about the FDA has been flooding the inboxes of ophthalmology watchers. The most notable news came Shire plc. The regulatory ...

October 14 2015

Precision Medicine Gets a Boost & Ophthalmology is Ready

Precision medicine got a boost in mid-September when National Institutes of Health (NIH) advisory committee released a framework for building a cohort of 1 million ...

October 9 2015

Gene Therapies Move One Step Closer to Reality

Positive top-line results from a pivotal Phase III study may result in the first gene therapy to win U.S. regulatory approval, and sent shares of ...

October 1 2015

Is Auris Still Building a Robot for Cataract Surgery?

Auris Surgical Robotics Inc., a Bay Area medical technology company that had been developing a robotic platform for cataract surgery, just raised $150 million, but ...

September 24 2015

Premium IOLs: Two Outliers with Mainstream Potential

A problem that plagues refractive cataract surgery is the difficulty of determining the IOL power that will achieve each patient’s refractive target. In the old ...

September 17 2015

Google Lens Clinical Trials to Start in 2016

Novartis, through its Alcon eye-care division, intends to start clinical trials of an accommodative Google “smart” contact lens in human eyes next year, Novartis Chief ...

September 11 2015

Aquesys’ CEO Details Allergan’s Successful Bid

Last week’s sale of Aquesys represented a homecoming for CEO Ron Bache, who started his surgical device career at Allergan in the late 1990s. However, ...

September 5 2015

A Look at Premium IOLs

Can Accommodating IOLs Fuel Demand? For nearly two decades, “presbyopia-correcting” intraocular lenses (IOLs) have been available to post-cataract surgery patients, but for a variety of ...

August 28 2015

Revenue Report Card for Recent IPO Class

As a rule, medical device companies have to demonstrate some level of commercial viability if they’re going to go public. A few are able to ...

August 21 2015

How Could the 21st Century Cures Act Aid Innovation?

There’s more to the 21st Century Cures Act, which passed the full House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support, than $9 billion in new funding ...

August 13 2015

Newer glaucoma medication classes about to be a reality?

While our podcast this week examines the rise of Glaukos and the MIGs market, contributor Michelle Dalton presents a State of the Glaucoma Drugs address. ...

August 6 2015

Q&A with Shire’s Robert Dempsey

Shire this week announced plans to acquire Foresight Biotherapeutics for $300 million. Robert Dempsey, Shire's vice president and head of the company's ophthalmic unit, kindly ...

July 30 2015

Is pSivida on the verge of megastar status?

With three of the four sustained-release drug delivery products commercially available in the U.S. and Europe, pSivida just might prove Wall Street pundits correct and ...

July 22 2015

First Lucentis Biosimilar Launches in India, but Path in US not so Clear

The first biosimilar agent for Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) has come to market in India with the launch of Intas Pharmaceuticals’’ Razumab in June. But whether ...

July 15 2015

Calhoun Vision Stages Turnaround

Medtech companies in ophthalmology have made some significant strides in recent months. Second Sight and Glaukos, of course, staged IPOs in their pursuit of revolutionary ...

July 9 2015

Allergan’s Oculeve Acquisition Bolsters Dry Eye, Medtech

The dry eye space has taken a few hits lately with disappointing clinical news on the biopharmaceutical front. But investors and entrepreneurs developing new treatments ...

July 2 2015

Were Glaukos’ IPO Investors Irrationally or Rightly Exuberant?

OIS Hot Shot Glaukos Corp. (NASDAQ—GKOS) raised over $100 million in an initial public offering (IPO) that highlighted extraordinary demand for ophthalmology’s minimally invasive glaucoma ...

June 25 2015

Legislation Would Restore NEI/NIH Funding

The 21st Century Cures Act – which is receiving uncharacteristic bipartisan support – could restore many of the Ophthalmology-oriented research grant programs cut in recent ...

June 22 2015

Investors Move Fast on AERI, AAVL Clinical News

Two presenters at the OIS saw their stock prices shoot in different directions following the release of news related to late-stage clinical trials. On Tuesday, ...

April 13 2015

CMS Opens Sunshine Act Review

Physicians have 45 days to review and dispute payments from industry. The Ophthalmology Innovation Summit opening on Thursday is clear evidence of the advances that ...

April 8 2015

Lifitegrast Heads Up Promising Dry Eye Pipeline

For more than a decade, there has only been one approved pharmacologic treatment for dry eye—Allergan’s Restasis (topical cyclosporine 0.05%). This in a market estimated ...

April 1 2015

Cross-linking platform denied FDA approval—for now

UPDATE 4/19/16: Avedro Finally Secures FDA Approval Read Full Story Click Here In late February, a joint panel of the Food and Drug Administration voted ...

November 11 2014

Device, Delivery, & Diagnostic Company Showcase

Chicago—The 6th Annual Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS), held here prior to the annual American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) featured a plethora of intriguing early- to ...

November 11 2014

Alcon’s George Shares Passion for Ophthalmology

Chicago— Jeff George, Global Head of Alcon Inc., introduced himself to the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit community with a far-ranging keynote address, “Accelerating Innovation in Ophthalmology.” ...

November 11 2014

Biopharma Companies of All Stages Shine in OIS Showcase

Biopharmaceutical development has gone well beyond the drugs themselves to mechanisms and platforms that aim to deliver those drugs more effectively and precisely than existing ...

November 11 2014

Eye Companies Helping Health Care Stand Out

Healthcare stocks are outperforming the indices, and ophthalmic companies are helping to fuel a large part of that growth, Jeffrey Hoffman, Managing Director and Head ...

November 11 2014

CEOs Share Their ‘Second Acts’ On Way to Building Successful Companies

Building a successful biotech or biopharma company typically turns on a sentinel event — the pivot, as William J. Link, PhD, Managing Director of Versant ...

November 11 2014

FDA Division Directors Detail How Agency Adapts to Innovation

The rush of innovation in ophthalmology – both in drugs and devices – is driving the Food and Drug Administration to adopt guidelines and standards ...

November 11 2014

Digital Health Companies Poised to Grow

When the OIS started its digital showcase in 2012, there was only one company presenting in the category. “Today there are six—evidence that this area ...

November 11 2014

AAO Sees Good and Bad in Consolidation

Speaking at the recent OIS@AAO meeting, American Academy of Ophthalmology EVP and CEO David W. Parke II, MD, highlighted health care system integration forces that ...

November 11 2014

The NEI’s Role in Innovation

The National Eye Institute (NEI) spends $675 million annually, mostly on basic science and discovery research. In addition, said Matthew J. McMahon, PhD, Director of ...

October 11 2014

How Do You Talk to an Angel?

Ophthalmic Surgeon, Eric D. Kanter, MD, of Retina-Vitreous Consultants, balances his work at his busy New Jersey practice with his commitments as a principal member ...

September 17 2014

Ophthalmology Leaders Speak to Strength of Sector

A Wall Street Journal analysis of venture capital commitments showed ophthalmology remained the strongest sector within healthcare. According to the Wall Street Journal, privately held ...

September 9 2014

Avedro Broadens Cross-Link Product Line

Corneal collagen cross-linking has been a vexing specialty for US-based companies trying to guide a product through a cautious FDA. But Massachusetts-based Avedro Inc., continues ...

September 2 2014

WaveTec “Must Have” for Alcon

WaveTec Vision Systems’ CEO, Tom Frinzi, delivered a bottom-line presentation at the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit @ASCRS in Boston. His six-minute presentation concentrated on the economic ...

July 15 2014

2014 OIS@ASCRS Executive Report

BOSTON — The Third Annual Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS@ASCRS) took place on April 24, just prior to the 2014 annual meeting of the American Society ...

April 16 2014

“The Long and Winding Road”

The March 14th meeting of the FDA’s Ophthalmic Devices Panel Advisory Committee, which was convened by the FDA to consider the pre-market application (PMA) for ...

March 4 2014

Innovation, Industry and Consultants – Good for Patients

Polio crippled President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and it infected and often paralyzed thousands of other Americans—58,000 in 1952 alone. Many historians consider the eradication of ...

January 14 2014

Next Generation Ocular Drug Delivery Platforms

The human eye measures approximately one inch in diameter, but traversing that blink-of-an-eye distance to achieve safe, effective and stable delivery of ophthalmology drugs via ...

December 19 2013

2013 OIS@AAO Executive Summary – Eye on Innovation

More than 800 attendees participated in the fifth annual Ophthalmology Innovation Summit, held November 14, 2013, just prior to the annual meeting of the American ...

November 14 2013

Large Device Companies Eyeing Opportunities in Ophthalmic Space

NEW ORLEANS — The oft-repeated Cajun expression in this fun loving town, ”laissez les bon temps roulez,” translated as let the good times roll may ...

September 24 2013

More Value to Ophthalmic Innovators Working with Strategic Investors

Evan Norton of Abbott Ventures sees a trend in which corporate investors are moving up their game to an earlier development stage, which could result ...

September 23 2013

Funding Ophthalmology Innovation: The Focus of Science and Capital

Ophthalmology is a growing, but challenging, market. Innovation is abounding in its research stages and some people in the know foresee more positive development in ...

June 25 2013

FDA Focus on More Efficient Processing Yields Faster Decisions

SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been criticized for its ponderous movement of potential drugs and medical devices through the approval ...

April 29 2013

VC Says There Are Many ‘Unmet Needs’ in Ophthalmology Space

SAN FRANCISCO — The second annual Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS) was held in conjunction with the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ASCRS; Reston, ...

April 23 2013

OIS@ASCRS 2013 Executive Summary – Eye on Innovation

The Second Annual OIS@ASCRS - Ophthalmology Innovation Summit at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery was held in San Francisco on April 18, ...

April 22 2013

OIS Sets Sights on Anterior Segment Innovations

The second annual Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS) at the 2013 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress combined industry, clinicians, and entrepreneurs to highlight innovations in anterior segment ...

April 20 2013

All Eyes on Ophthalmic Innovation: An Interview with Bill Link

The ophthalmology drug, device and medical technology sector is poised for continued growth, as innovators and entrepreneurs unblinkingly stare down the ongoing domino effect being ...

April 19 2013

Innovation in Ophthalmology Pushes Forward

SAN FRANCISCO — The future of innovation in ophthalmology is promising, with more forward movement than drag, according to a speaker here. “The tailwinds are ...