NEW spectrum
CooperVision Establishes New Operating Region
Effective as of Nov. 1, 2012, Cooper-Vision, Inc. established a new operating region to maximize its growing presence and accelerate growth in key emerging markets, according to the company. The new operating unit will include the economies of India, Pakistan, the Middle East, Turkey, Russia, and Africa.
Michael Wilkinson, the company’s current vice president of Marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has been named general manager for the new region. He joined Cooper-Vision in 2006 as general manager for the United Kingdom and Ireland, and previously held roles with Parfums Givenchy and Gillette.
New President for European Management Team
In other CooperVision news, the company recently announced a new president, Mark Harty. Most recently, Mark served as the general manager, Medical and Surgical Division of United Drug Holdings Ltd in the United Kingdom. Mark also held the positions of vice president & general manager at Boston Scientific, United Kingdom, president of Masimo PLC, United Kingdom, and vice president & general manager – Global Critical Care, Edwards Life-Sciences in the United States.
Expanded Toric Parameters
CooperVision also recently expanded the parameters of its Avaira Toric silicone hydrogel lens. Details on the new parameters are available in this month’s Product Spectrum on p. 54.
GP Specialists Offer Lenses in Definitive
The FDA granted custom soft and GP contact lens lab GP Specialists clearance to begin manufacturing customizable soft lenses in the Definitive silicone hydrogel material. Under the brand name iSight, GP Specialists will offer a complete line of specialized soft lenses that include made-to-order spheres, torics, multifocals, and keratoconus designs.
Matthew Pogue, director of sales, said that the Definitive material, developed by Contamac, adds a new dimension to GP Specialists’ existing line of made-to-order BioCurve soft lenses. Patients who need a higher-Dk material now have available to them the company’s new iSight soft lens with sphere powers up to ±20.00D and cylinders up to –8.50D, he added.
The Definitive silicone hydrogel material is now available in all GP Specialists made-to-order designs. Call (800) 899-0379 or visit www.gpspecialists.com for more information.
| INDUSTRY BRIEFS |
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| ■ Safigel, known for its patented Hyaluronate-Gel Technology, has adding more plus powers to its daily disposable line. The Safigel Daily Disposable lens is now available in sphere powers of +2.00D to +4.00D in 0.25D steps, in addition to +0.50D to +2.00D already offered in those increments. Visit www.safigel.com. ■ Corneal disease sufferers can now receive Boston Foundation for Sight’s Boston-Sight PROSE (Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Ecosystem) scleral lenses at the University of Miami’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Ocular Surface Center. Priscilla Sotomayor, OD, who joined the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in July 2011, completed the nine-week Boston-Sight PROSE Clinical Fellowship and has begun seeing patients at Bascom Palmer’s Ocular Surface Center in Plantation, Fla. where PROSE treatment is available. ■ Bausch + Lomb recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the company’s New Drug Application (NDA) for Lotemax (loteprednol etabonate ophthalmic gel) 0.5% gel drop formulation, a new topical corticosteroid formulation in its line of loteprednol ophthalmic products. Lotemax Gel is a corticosteroid indicated for the treatment of postoperative inflammation and pain following ocular surgery. ■ Avedro, Inc. and EyeGate Pharma have announced that Avedro will hold the exclusive license to EyeGate Pharma’s iontophoresis patents in the field of corneal collagen crosslinking. When cross-linking is used to treat degenerative keratoconus or post-LASIK ectasia, the corneal epithelium is commonly removed to allow riboflavin to penetrate into the cornea. Removal of the epithelium causes patient discomfort for up to 24 hours and a transient reduction in vision as the epithelium regrows. EyeGate Pharma’s iontophoresis is one approach that has the potential to deliver riboflavin into the cornea without the need to remove the epithelium. ■ SARcode Bioscience, Inc., announced topline results from OPUS-1, a Phase 3 study of lifitegrast ophthalmic solution, 5.0%, versus placebo for the treatment of dry eye disease. In the study, which included 588 subjects, lifitegrast demonstrated superiority over placebo in the improvement of inferior and total corneal staining scores from baseline to week 12 (P=0.0007 and P=0.0148, respectively). Lifitegrast also significantly improved the most commonly reported symptoms of dry eye disease in the study, which were ocular discomfort and eye dryness. ■ Vision Source has renewed its partnership with eye exam mobile application EyeXam Mobile Platform (Global EyeVentures). Through this partnership, Vision Source says its members have enhanced business listings that increase the opportunity for consumers to find them for an exam and regularly communicate with them. The updated app launched last month and provides new features such as bidirectional doctor/patient messaging, social media integration, and more additions aimed at enhancing communication and connectivity between optometrists and patients. |
Alden Launches Lens, Program
Alden Optical, Inc., manufacturer of custom and specialty soft and GP contact lenses, launched Astera Multifocal Toric at the 2012 American Academy of Optometry Meeting. The company says that Astera Multifocal Toric will offer practitioners a higher level of performance for presbyopes who can benefit from custom lens prescriptions and/or astigmatic correction.
Alden Optical partnered with Precilens, a leading European manufacturer, to incorporate Precilens’ C2 centernear multifocal optics, which feature large stabilized spherical zones at near and distance. Astera Multifocal Toric also features Alden Optical’s proprietary Dual Elliptical Stabilization to help ensure orientation and rotational stability. Astera Multifocal Toric is available in custom prescriptions and multiple replacement cycles as well as without cylinder for spherical wearers who require custom lens prescriptions or designs. More information including lens parameters will appear in the next Product Spectrum.
Alden Optical also recently announced a new policy regarding lens exchanges that the company has branded EZ-Exchange, which allows practitioners to make lens adjustments without the need to return the original lens. In situations in which fitting adjustments are necessary, practitioners can contact Alden Optical with the new lens order and dispose of the original lens. The new policy is designed to improve office efficiency and decrease shipping and handling costs, stated Tom Shone, Alden Optical President.
Lens orders that result in patient cancellation, as well as any defective lens claims, will continue to require lenses to be returned to receive full credit. The new policy was slated to go into effect on Nov. 1.
| ASCO Launches ORMatch |
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The Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) recently launched ORMatch, the new Optometry Residency Match, which is administered by National Matching Services Inc. (NMS). An ASCO committee with representation from ASCO and the Department of Veteran Affairs oversees the program with management support from ASCO. Applicants can register for ORMatch and send applications to participating programs using the online system accessible at the ORMatch web site at http://www.natmatch.com/ormatch. Applicants should register for the match by Dec. 31, 2012. Visit the ORMatch web site for more information, such as an overview of the service, a list of participating programs, a detailed schedule of important dates, and a description of the matching algorithm. |
BCLA Offers Pre-Screening
Authors submitting scientific papers and/or posters before Friday, Nov. 30, 2012, for the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) 37th Clinical Conference and Exhibition (Manchester Central, United Kingdom, June 6 to 9, 2013), will benefit from a new pre-screening service.
The new service will give authors the chance to obtain feedback about their abstract from members of the BCLA Academic Committee, who have a high level of expertise in writing submissions for clinical conferences.
“The usual reason for rejecting a submission is that the author does not adhere to the specific criteria,” said chair of the BCLA Academic Committee, Professor Roger Buckley. “However, it can also be something as simple as inappropriate use of language. This new service will give the authors a second chance to have their abstract accepted, though it does guarantee acceptance. They will get a professional opinion and critical feedback on their proposal at an early stage, free of charge.
Professor Buckley also advised that authors send in their posters and papers as soon as possible, and certainly before Nov. 30, to make the most of this opportunity.
The final deadline for submitting papers and posters for the 2013 conference is Friday, Jan. 11, 2013. Visit www.bcla.org.uk, email events@bcla.org.uk or call 020 7580 6661 for more information on how to make your submission and take advantage of the prescreening service.
| ABB Concise Offers Tutorial to Members |
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| ABB Concise has developed an online Annual Supply Tutorial exclusively for ABB Concise accounts and their office staff. This 13-minute tutorial provides practitioners and their staff with strategies for presenting and closing the sale on annual supplies of soft contact lenses. The Annual Supply Tutorial was developed to help show practitioners and staff the importance of selling annual supplies, not only for practice benefits of patient retention and office efficiencies, but also for the patients’ overall cost savings, comfort, and visual acuity that comes with patient compliance. The tutorial walks through scenarios on how to handle objections for purchases of annual supplies, in addition to providing scripts for those scenarios. The Annual Supply Tutorial is the latest tool developed by ABB Concise to help increase annual supply sales. Other tools include: Quarterly Soft Lens Retail Price Monitor, Annual Supply Card, Annual Supply Comparison Worksheet, and free Yourlens.com practitioner webstore with Auto Ship Program. The company also has a pencil-sell tear sheet that offices can use to present the added benefit of annual supplies when using manufacturer rebates and insurance benefits where applicable. Later this year, the tool will also be made into an interactive document available for use on an iPad. To view the tutorial, ABB Concise accounts can log onto abbconcise.com and find it on the ECP tools page. |
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