WaveLight now in U.S. market on its own

The German company has considered the American market key from the outset, COO says.

SAN DIEGO – It is a German company that chose an English name right from the start, indicating its long-standing interest in the American market, said Dr. Manfred Drax, speaking of laser manufacturer WaveLight Laser Technologie AG.

Dr. Drax, chief operating officer of WaveLight, and Katrin Teigeler, global marketing manager, spoke about the company’s new position in the U.S. market in an interview at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.

Days before the meeting, WaveLight and Lumenis Inc. announced substantial changes in their global distribution arrangements. Laser maker Lumenis will no longer distribute WaveLight’s refractive excimer laser and other products in Europe and the United States. These markets will now be served by WaveLight AG and its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary WaveLight Laser Inc. Lumenis will continue to distribute WaveLight products in China, Japan and Taiwan.

Dr. Drax, who said relations with Lumenis remain “cordial,” sounded enthusiastic and energized by the change.

“We see this as more an opportunity than a challenge,” he said. “We will have to change a lot of things, but we are well prepared. We have a vision to establish WaveLight as an American company alongside our U.S. competitors.”

The company’s installed base of its Allegretto excimer laser has grown since its U.S. regulatory approval last year, Dr. Drax said, and is approaching 30 systems. And the company is gearing up to begin trials for approval of wavefront-guided ablation soon.

Guy Kezirian, MD, remains their chief investigator for refractive laser trials, Dr. Drax said. The timeline for the trials of customized ablation has yet to be determined, he said.

Both Dr. Drax and Mrs. Teigeler said that at this point, their company’s focus is the existing customer base.

“We foresee no negative impact on our customer support with the new arrangement, “ Dr. Drax said. “We will be focusing on offering first-class support and service for our products. We are proud to have the latest technology to offer.”

Mrs. Teigleler, WaveLight’s global marketing manager, said her goal is to be able to directly communicate with every existing customer.

“Our biggest asset,” she said “is the satisfied customers we already have.” She said WaveLight will offer to help customers set up marketing campaigns to market their own practices. The WaveLight user forum will also help customers trade ideas for successful practice marketing.

“We care that our customers are successful,” she said. “That means good results and safety for patients.”

In markets other than the United States and Europe, Dr. Drax said, the company will rely on distributors, “locally experienced partners who share our philosophy of customer support.”

He said the company will have an increased focus on the Latin American market. “We have felt in the past that this market was not well served. Now we will have the opportunity to do this.”

Lumenis, which has had success with WaveLight’s products particularly in the Chinese market, will continue as a distributor in Asia, Dr. Drax said. Lumenis will be responsible for the process of regulatory approval of the Allegretto laser in Japan, he said.

Mrs. Teigeler said the company is planning to have an integrated marketing strategy throughout the world, with individual adjustments in each market.

The company intends to play up the strength of its German engineering background, she said.

At the ASCRS meeting, WaveLight unveiled its latest laser, the Concerto, an advanced system that will be made available only to a limited number of customers at first. It features eye tracking and a 500-Hz scanning laser spot, company officials said.

Following is more business news from the ASCRS meeting.

ASCRS Business News

AMO, Quest Vision announce licensing agreement for accommodating IOL

Advanced Medical Optics announced a 1-year research and evaluation licensing agreement with Quest Vision Technologies to develop accommodating IOL designs, according to AMO officials.

Two Quest Vision accommodating IOL designs, FocusIOL and FlexOptic, are being developed for the treatment of presbyopia. “Under the agreement, AMO will have access to a number of issued and pending patents for various design approaches that encompass both axial movement and shape changing technology,” according to an AMO press statement released here during the ASCRS meeting.

Under the terms of the agreement, AMO will own a minority interest in Quest Vision, with an option to purchase the company after 1 year. No other terms were disclosed, according to AMO.

CIBA Vision sells epi-LASIK device to Australian company

CIBA Vision sold its epi-LASIK surgical product line to Australian medical device company Norwood Abbey Ltd. shortly before the ASCRS meeting began. The line includes the Centurion SES system and the EpiEdge epikeratome separator, CIBA Vision announced in a press release from its headquarters in Atlanta.

The devices are used in epi-LASIK, a refractive laser procedure developed by Prof. Ioannis Pallikaris.

“This is a key step in the sale of our surgical business and allows us to focus fully on our core lens and lens care businesses,” said Robin Terrell, president of CIBA Vision’s surgical business.

In addition to purchasing the Centurion SES EpiEdge, Norwood has also exclusively licensed the worldwide rights to Epi-LASIK from FOS Holdings. Prof. Pallikaris will act as a consultant to Norwood as a founding member of its clinical advisory board, according to the CIBA press release.

CIBA Vision previously sold several other parts of its surgical product line to the French company IOLTECH.

Industry reps form coalition to improve cataract reimbursement

Industry representatives from Advanced Medical Optics, Alcon and Bausch & Lomb have formed an advocacy group called the Industry Coalition for the Advancement of Refractive Eyecare (ICARE). AdvaMed, the medical device lobbying group, has expressed strong support for the new group, industry officials said.

ICARE’s goal is to change perceptions held by federal regulators and legislators that cataract surgery is a perfected procedure with no room for improvement, said Brette McClellan, director of health policy government relations for Alcon. She spoke about the new group’s purpose and role here at the Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgery Society meeting.

Government officials commonly perceive cataract surgery as a routine procedure that accounts for a large expenditure under Medicare, Ms. McClellan said. Some feel that these Medicare resources would be better focused more on life-saving procedures, she said.

Although there may be some truth in these perceptions, she said, the government also needs to know that patients value their vision and rank it among their top concerns. Advocates must show how cataract surgery allows patients to provide a benefit to the economy by making more contributions, she said.

“Policymakers need to know that cataract surgeons restore vision to more than 2.5 million people a year, that cataracts are the leading cause of low vision and blindness among blacks and that cataract surgery is a highly evolved and technical procedure,” Ms. McClellan said.

ICARE will work with AdvaMed to make these facts known, she said.

Among other objectives for the group is adjustment to the method by which reimbursement is set for ambulatory surgery centers, Ms. McClellan said.

Increasing revenue possible even with reimbursement declines, speaker says

Reductions in physician reimbursement may continue for the foreseeable future, but it is possible to grow practice revenue despite payment cuts, according to a speaker here.

Rodney W. Roeser, chief accounting officer in the practice of Robert J. Cionni, MD, said he and Dr. Cionni have devised ways for their practice to increase its revenue. Among the objectives they follow are having a governing board and periodic budget reports, so physicians can plan accordingly, Mr. Roeser told attendees at the meeting.

Mr. Roeser said they negotiate with insurance companies for better contracts. They also audit their payments against the contracts, often finding places where they have been underpaid. They have also looked at technologies to help streamline their business and are considering adopting electronic medical reporting.