Proposed joint venture to accelerate refractive innovations

A new company, formed by Bausch & Lomb and 20/10 Perfect Vision, would focus on delivering refractive technology to the marketplace.

A proposed joint venture between Bausch & Lomb and 20/10 Perfect Vision will create a new company that will address refractive surgeons’ needs with enhanced speed and delivery, officials said.

In a telephone interview with Ocular Surgery News, J. Andy Corley, president of the Bausch & Lomb surgical division, said that the refractive surgery market is highly competitive, driven by surgeons’ needs for new and improved techniques and innovations.

“You have to listen to those surgeons, and when you develop trends, you have to respond with products that address the trends that the doctors are reporting to you. And you have to do that very rapidly,” Mr. Corley said. “It’s our belief that our joint venture can respond to customers’ needs faster than the refractive business could within Bausch & Lomb in its current configuration.”

By forming the joint venture, the two companies will have the best possible advantage in addressing the needs of the laser vision correction market, Mr. Corley said.

The agreement between Bausch & Lomb, based in Rochester, N.Y., and 20/10 Perfect Vision, based in Heidelberg, Germany, is expected to be finalized by the end of the year, according to a joint press release.

Joint venture

The venture will combine the companies’ refractive eye surgery assets, bringing together 20/10 Perfect Vision’s technological advances for presbyopia correction with Bausch & Lomb’s development and production expertise as well as its global commercial reach, according to the press release

“We believe that our investment of assets in the joint venture will help advance the refractive industry, benefiting ophthalmologists and patients worldwide,” Gerald M. Ostrov, chairman and chief executive officer of Bausch & Lomb, said in the release.

Financial terms for the joint venture will not be disclosed.

“We are very committed,” Mr. Corley said. “We are investing heavily in this joint venture, and it’s just going to be better for our customers.”

What it means

According to Mr. Corley, a new company will be created when the joint venture is finalized. That company will be a standalone business, and Bausch & Lomb will be the largest shareholder in the company. Kristian Hohla, PhD, executive president of 20/10 Perfect Vision and inventor of the Bausch & Lomb Technolas laser, will be the company’s chief executive officer, Mr. Corley said.

In the joint press release, Dr. Hohla said the prospect of forming a new global company concentrating mainly on corneal refractive surgery is an excellent idea.

“Combining innovative teams, visionary technologies and state-of-the-art refractive surgery products will yield a powerful portfolio of options for customers and patients,” Dr. Hohla said.

After establishing the new company, Bausch & Lomb’s surgical division will remain focused on cataract surgery and lifestyle lenses for patients who have cataract procedures, Mr. Corley said.

The Bausch & Lomb surgical division currently develops and manufactures refractive surgery products, including the Zyoptix Personalized Laser Vision Correction System and the Zyoptix XP microkeratome.

“The objective of the joint venture is to provide superb excimer laser technology and to create a premium channel of corneal refractive patients for the refractive surgeon by providing innovative presbyopic treatments,” Mr. Corley said.

Future innovations

Along with developing and marketing the Femtec femtosecond laser workstation, which officials said allows for noninvasive intrastromal refractive procedures, 20/10 Perfect Vision also developed the WaveScan technology (Advanced Medical Optics).

A new technology that is in development at the company is intraCOR — intrastromal correction of presbyopia with the Femtec system. Mr. Corley said both companies are excited about the procedure, which has shown promising results in early research by Luis Antonio Ruiz, MD. Dr. Ruiz has written a white paper on the topic.

With the joint venture, the focus on refractive innovations will assist in targeting the right market for new technologies. Mr. Corley said the intraCOR treatment may be ideal for 40- to 50-year-olds, instead of the 30-year-old demographic that is typically targeted in refractive surgery but has been adversely affected by the current economic downturn.

For more information:

• J. Andy Corley can be reached at 26970 Aliso Viejo Parkway, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656; 949-916-9352; fax: 949-716-8362; e-mail: andy.corley@bausch.com.
• Erin L. Boyle is an OSN Staff Writer who covers all aspects of ophthalmology.