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New Products Set Upbeat Tone for ASCRS Meeting; Attendance Remains a Concern

New product launches created high surgeon interest at the 2024 meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), but the overall mood of the conference was tempered somewh...

Second Shake-up May be Underway in the Glaucoma Pharmaceuticals Market

Allergan and Novartis replaced Merck and Pfizer at the top of the glaucoma pharmaceuticals market a decade ago. Now it could be their turn to pass the baton. Allergan, acquired by AbbVie in 2020 an...

Retinal Pharmaceutical Transactions Drive Ophthalmic Deals in First Quarter of 2024

Ophthalmic deals in Q1-2024 reached over $2.1 billion and involved 20 transactions. This compares with $2.0 billion from 17 transactions in Q1-2023 and $570 million from 12 transactions in Q4-2023....

Refractive Atlas Uncovers Pockets of High Opportunity in Des Moines, Syracuse

Refractive procedures in general are driven by the country’s millennial and older Generation Z populations, but the surgery rate is driven by a subset of comparatively educated, affluent, and healt...

Viatris, Ocuphire Announce US Launch of Ryzumvi to Reverse Pupil Dilation

Viatris and Ocuphire Pharma announced April 1 the US launch of Ryzumvi (phentolamine ophthalmic solution) 0.75% for the reversal of pharmacologically induced mydriasis. The US FDA approved Ryzumvi ...

Japanese IOL Maker Hoya Halts Production After Cyberattack

Japanese intraocular lens maker Hoya reported on April 4 that production of several of its products had stopped after a computer system failure, “most likely caused by unauthorized access” to its s...

iDose, Eylea HD, Izervay Get J-Codes for Billing Payers in the US

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued J-codes for Glaukos’ iDose, Regeneron’s Eylea HD, and Astellas Pharma’s Izervay. The code for iDose takes effect July 1, 2024, while ...

Lenz Reports Positive Topline Phase III Data in Presbyopia, Plans NDA Submission in Mid-2024

Lenz Therapeutics reported April 3 positive topline results from its Phase III CLARITY trials of LNZ100 and LNZ101 for presbyopia. LNZ100 and LNZ101 are preservative free, single-use, once-daily ey...

Select US FDA Approvals and Clearances in March 2024

The US FDA granted three clearances through the ophthalmic device division using the 510(k) pathway in March 2024, according to the agency’s database. Cylite received clearance for its HP-OCT. The ...

Ophthalmic Bevacizumab Candidate from Outlook Gains Positive CHMP Opinion

Outlook Therapeutics announced March 22 that the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) had issued a positive opinion recommending approval of ONS-5010 (L...

Outlook Leads Latest Ophthalmic Fundraising with $164M in Private Placements

Retinal drug developer Outlook Therapeutics led recent ophthalmic fundraising efforts with two private placements, for proceeds totaling $164 million. Financing announced in the past four weeks tot...

Warburg Pincus Buys Controlling Stake in India’s Appasamy

US-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus and Appasamy Associates announced April 10 that Warburg had bought a controlling stake in the Indian ophthalmic company. Financial details were not discl...

ABVC BioPharma Sells Global Rights to Vitreous Substitute to ForSeeCon Eye for $30 Million Up Front

ABVC BioPharma announced March 26 that it had agreed to license its ophthalmology pipeline, including the vitreous substitute candidate Vitargus, to ForSeeCon Eye. ABVC, of Fremont, California, say...

Study Attempts to Clarify Best Fit for Vyzulta

Constance Okeke, MD, is helping to clear the confusion that can come from having multiple choices. “There are so many medicines coming into glaucoma that it can be difficult for a clinician to know...

US FDA Backs Call to Eliminate Interchangeability Designation for Biosimilars

A US FDA official has expressed support for measures before Congress to remove the interchangeability designation for biosimilars, claiming that the two-tier system is only causing confusion. It ca...

ASCRS Marks 50 Years with Look Back at Cataract Surgery in 1974

The ASCRS commemorated its 50th anniversary at its 2024 annual meeting by re-creating an ophthalmologist’s office and surgery suite from the 1970s in the exhibit hall. The display served as a remin...

J&J Vision Launches Tecnis Odyssey PC-IOL at 2024 ASCRS Meeting

Johnson & Johnson Vision launched and touted the Tecnis Odyssey presbyopia-correcting IOL at a number of venues at the 2024 ASCRS meeting. Blake Williamson, MD, and Priya Matthews, MD, described J&...

RxSight Launches the LAL+ IOL with Large ASCRS Program

RxSight continued to build momentum for its post-op adjustable IOL with a big presence at the 2024 ASCRS meeting, including an Eyecelerator presentation on the new LAL+ and 14 speaker sessions at t...

Rayner and Carl Zeiss Meditec Display Recently Acquired Phaco Machines

The US ultrasonic cataract machine market has been dominated by Alcon, Bausch + Lomb, and Johnson & Johnson for more than a decade, so it’s unusual to learn of a new phaco machine being launched by...

Slade’s Steinert Lecture Bolsters Value of Refractive Lens Exchange

Stephen Slade, MD, promoted the value of refractive lens exchange (RLE) during the Steinert Lecture at the 2024 ASCRS meeting’s Refractive Subspecialty Day. RLE is an elective procedure that remove...

ASCRS Meeting Showcases New Lenticule Extraction Platforms

Lenticule extraction (LE) continues to advance as new platforms come to the market. The 2024 ASCRS meeting showcased improved LE features that have enhanced the patient and surgeon experience. Doct...

Rise of DMEK Highlights Need for Corneal Endothelial Therapies

Descemet’s membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) has become the most common keratoplasty procedure performed domestically, according to a statistical report by the Eye Bank Association of Americ...

Dry Eye Screening Before Surgery Seems Logical, but Hurdles Remain

The need to continue lobbying for dry eye evaluation prior to patients undergoing anterior segment surgery is somewhat baffling. Such testing seems like an obvious approach for the many patients wh...

Digital Solutions are Underlying Theme at 2024 ASCRS Meeting

The ASCRS conference was a hub of diagnostic innovation and collaboration, despite the absence of a designated “Digital Day,” as provided at the 2023 meeting. Discussions on the integration of digi...

Ophthalmologists Aim to Uncover and Overcome Gender Bias

Opinion leaders in ophthalmology collaborated to educate their peers on gender bias during the 2024 ASCRS meeting in Boston. Led by Tanya Trinh, FRANZCO, MBBS, doctors discussed detailed actions th...

Eyecelerator Celebrates Fourth Anniversary While Showcasing Innovation in Ophthalmology

A nor’easter storm that disrupted many travel itineraries failed to deter the nearly 600 industry personnel and clinicians who attended Eyecelerator ahead of the 2024 ASCRS meeting. This year’s con...

Chambers Retires from US FDA After 36-Plus Years of Ophthalmic Drug Review

Wiley Chambers, MD, an ophthalmologist who conducted or supervised the review of ophthalmic drugs at the US FDA for 36½ years, retired from the agency Jan. 13, 2024. The 65-year-old is now serving ...

BVI Medical Launches Podeye Hydrophobic Monofocal IOL in Japan

BVI Medical announced April 17 that it had launched its Podeye hydrophobic monofocal IOL in Japan, following approval by the Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency. The lens was set to...

Emerging Companies Pursuing Ophthalmic Indications, April 2024

Market Scope is tracking companies that have announced new candidates to diagnose and treat eye disease.

Generic Drugmakers Sued by Large Employers in Price Fixing Scheme

Nine large employers—including American Airlines, Aramark, General Motors, Target, and Lowe’s—have filed a new lawsuit against leading makers of generic drugs, claiming the drugmakers have engaged ...

US Accuses Regeneron of Fraudulent Drug Price Reporting for Eylea

The US Justice Department has accused New York-based Regeneron of fraudulently manipulating Medicare’s drug pricing process for Eylea, costing the Medicare system hundreds of millions of dollars. T...

Eyenovia Explores Strategic Alternatives as it Rolls Out Mydcombi, Postsurgical Steroid

Eyenovia reported April 8 that it is exploring strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value, even as it rolls out Mydcombi for pupil dilation and prepares to launch its clobetasol propionat...

Clinical Trial Updates for Ophthalmic Candidates , April 2024

Market Scope is tracking companies that have announced clinical trial updates or milestone achievements.

Weekly Surgeon Poll, April 2024

Nanoscope Reports Positive Results for RP Optogenetic Therapy

Nanoscope Therapeutics on March 26 reported positive topline results from its two-year Phase IIb clinical trial of MCO-010, an ambient-light-activatable optogenetic monother-apy to restore vision i...

April 2024 Ophthalmic News Briefs

Alexion, the rare disease unit of AstraZeneca, announced March 25 that the US FDA had approved its long-acting C5 complement inhibitor Ultomiris (ravulizumab-cwvz) for adults with neuromyelitis opt...