NEWSspectrum

NCC 2014 Marks Dutch Meeting’s Fifth Anniversary

The 2014 Dutch biannual contact lens meeting, the Netherlands Contact Lens Congress (NCC 2014), took place March 16 and 17 in Veldhoven, The Netherlands. With a theme of “Decoding the Secret,” this year marked the meeting’s fifth anniversary. A record 1,577 unique visitors attended the meeting for one or two days. The majority of lectures were in English and featured speakers from all over the world. Participants from 16 countries attended NCC 2014, but 95% of the registered participants were from Belgium and the Netherlands.

The meeting consisted of three tracks of continuous lectures, with the main stage featuring a 360º arena podium (with the speakers centered in the middle) and seating for 1,296 attendees. Topics ranged from scleral lenses to corneal cross-linking, and from everyday contemporary issues in contact lens practice to how to improve soft lens fitting to myopia control with contact lenses. This was also the first non-North American presentation of the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society’s (TFOS) International Workshop on Contact Lens Discomfort report.

Short lines between speakers and delegates are always an important tradition of the meeting. This year’s meeting featured a “speed-date” session during which participants could talk to internationally renowned speakers in face-to-face, two-minute interactions. Speakers present included Drs. Lyndon Jones, Philip Morgan, Jason Nichols, Nancy Keir, Brian Tompkins, José Manuel González-Méijome, and Eric Papas.

Pictures of the NCC 2014 meeting are available at www.ncc2014.nl/?lang=en. NCC 2016 will be held on March 13 and 14, 2016.

ABB Optical Updates Soft Lens Price Monitor

Every quarter, ABB Optical Group develops and distributes the Soft Lens Retail Price Monitor, which is designed to provide independent eyecare professionals (ECPs) with current information on the retail pricing of leading brands of soft contact lenses.

This information is based upon private practitioners’ and leading online retailers’ current pricing. It also enables all practitioners to establish retail prices that are competitive and allows them to maximize profitability, according to the company.

Now in its 10th year, the Q1 2014 Retail Price Monitor reflects ECP manufacturer price and rebate changes for the new year. Adjustments were made to the suggested retail pricing to reflect those changes while maintaining profitable margins.

ABB Optical recommends that all ECPs review their pricing using the Retail Price Monitor and take action immediately to adjust their retail pricing as needed. ABB Optical Group sales representatives are available to consult with accounts in developing the right pricing strategy for every practice’s unique profit margin goals for 2014.

For more information about obtaining a personalized Business Review or a copy of the new Q1 2014 Soft Contact Lens Retail Price Monitor, please contact marketingrequest@abboptical.com.

Essilor Acquires Coastal Contacts

Essilor International has entered into a binding agreement to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Coastal Contacts (Coastal.com), one of the world’s leading online vision care retailers.

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and founded in 2000, Coastal.com designs and distributes one of the widest online selections of optical equipment including contact lenses, prescription and non-prescription eyeglasses, sunglasses, and various accessories. Products are sold through several local websites covering mainly North America and Europe as well as the Asia-Pacific region and Brazil. The company has more than 5 million customers worldwide.

According to the Essilor announcement, online sales account for roughly 4% of the global vision care market and are likely to continue growing at a double-digit rate. Essilor has been involved in online distribution for several years through its subsidiaries FramesDirect and EyeBuyDirect and through MyOnlineOptical, a turnkey e-commerce engine that enables American eyecare professionals to offer an online complement to their in-store offerings. Essilor intends to leverage online distribution to improve the quality of vision care information, optimize the deployment of its products and of new online technologies, and provide wider access to vision correction solutions for existing eyeglass wearers and for potential wearers worldwide.

The transaction will be structured as an arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act and is subject among others to the approval of the Competition Bureau in Canada and to that of Coastal.com’s shareholders. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of April 2014.

Nicox Appoints Two Directors

Nicox Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of international ophthalmic company Nicox S.A., has appointed Dennis Pardo, OD, MPH, FAAO, to director of professional affairs. In this role, Dr. Pardo will partner with key opinion leaders in the Retina and Rheumatology areas to identify and develop preferred practice patterns for Nicox’s diagnostic offerings, including Sjö and RetnaGene AMD. Additionally, he will be the primary liaison between Nicox and the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation as well as other patient advocacy groups.

Dr. Pardo brings more than 17 years of ophthalmic experience to the newly formed position, including time spent in academia, various practice settings, and industry.

Dr. Pardo is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and serves on its Membership Committee. He is also a member of the American Optometric Association and The Massachusetts Society of Optometrists.

Nicox also appointed Mark C. Jasek, PhD, as senior director and head, medical & scientific affairs. In this role, Dr. Jasek will serve as a key scientific affairs expert, providing leadership for medical affairs initiatives in the ophthalmic diagnostic and therapeutic arenas, as well as act as a liaison between Nicox and the North American ophthalmic scientific community.

Fifteen years of Dr. Jasek’s time in the industry have been in the ophthalmic pharmaceutical and device space, where he held various positions that spanned clinical affairs, medical affairs, technical sales training, and product management while at Allergan and Alcon.

Optometry Cares—AOA Foundation Awards

The Optometry Cares—AOA Foundation announced winners of two scholarships and one grant for 2014.

The InfantSEE Scholarships were awarded to Steven Kleen from Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO) at Marshall B. Ketchum University and Matthew Polster from Pacific University College of Optometry. Scholarship applicants needed to write an essay describing, among other points, what they see as major challenges in providing optometric care to infants, how they would overcome those challenges, and how their clinical experiences have directly contributed to their development as future participants in the InfantSEE program. The InfantSEE Scholarships are provided through donations from Vision West Inc.

Benjamin Foreman from Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University was awarded the 2014 Dr. Seymour Galina Grant, which is awarded annually in memory of the long-time AOA member. Grant applicants were required to write a 1,500-word essay describing qualities that they developed through financial planning/work experience during and/or before optometry school that the individuals believe will be most useful in a professional optometric practice. The grant is offered from the Galina Fund.

For more information about scholarships and grants, please visit www.aoafoundation.org.