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Fresh capital, leadership drive Calhoun Vision’s efforts to market Light Adjustable Lens in US
A phase 3 study of the novel IOL is underway.
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With a recent infusion of capital and an expanded leadership team, Calhoun Vision is proceeding with efforts to usher its proprietary Light Adjustable Lens to the U.S. ophthalmology market.
Rick Heinick was named Calhoun Vision president and CEO in March. Two other senior executives were appointed in June, and the company raised $69 million in financing to support a premarket application for the Light Adjustable Lens (LAL).
“This is a transformative period at Calhoun,” Heinick told Ocular Surgery News. “We now have the capital and are adding to the talent within the organization to execute our strategy and take us to the next level as a high-performance organization.”
Light Adjustable Lens
The LAL allows surgeons to change the power of a lens after implantation.
“We feel Calhoun’s Light Adjustable Lens is an important addition to intraocular lens technology. As the only lens designed to allow cataract surgeons to adjust the power of the lens following implantation, surgeons will have an additional tool with which to meet their patients’ refractive goals,” Heinick said. “Unlike a standard lens, the shape of the LAL can be modified to adjust the power of the lens after healing has taken place using an office-based application of light.”
Calhoun Vision has completed initial clinical trials with a phase 3 pivotal trial for spherocylindrical corrections currently underway in the U.S.
“In the phase 2 study, the primary and secondary effectiveness and safety endpoints were met through 36 months postoperatively. That enabled us to proceed to phase 3,” Heinick said. “We have since completed enrollment in phase 3 of the 600-patient study of the LAL, and 12-month follow-ups are being collected.”
Future research will concentrate on other indications for the LAL, Heinick said.
“We’re currently focused on the correction of sphere and cylinder,” he said. “But, of course, we’ll work to apply the benefits of this approach to additional indications in the future. We think the opportunities are vast.”
The LAL is commercially available in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and the Czech Republic.
Financing and leadership
The $69 million financing comprises $52 million in new financing and $17 million in debt conversion, Heinick said.
Longitude Capital led the financing cycle with co-investors RA Capital Management, Balance Point Capital Partners and H.I.G. BioVentures.
“I think it is a testament to our technology to have that kind of capital support from these firms, as well as our existing investors,” Heinick said. “It allows us to address the unmet needs that exist today in cataract surgery, namely postoperative residual refractive error. We’re continuing to do research and development on our pipeline, which provides us with a platform technology.”
In June, Ron Kurtz, MD, was named chief operations officer and Eric Weinberg was named chief commercial officer.
Kurtz co-founded LenSx, served as the company’s president and CEO, and then became general manager of Alcon LenSx. He previously co-founded IntraLase.
Weinberg was also a co-founder of LenSx and served as chief commercial officer. He previously served as senior vice president for global marketing at IntraLase.
“Ron and Eric bring vast experience to this effort, and we will be adding other strong leaders to this team,” Heinick said.
In addition, in August, Chris Cox, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan and member of the House of Representatives, joined Calhoun Vision’s board of directors. Cox is a partner in the international law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and president of global strategy firm Morgan Lewis Consulting LLC. – by Matt Hasson
- For more information:
- Rick Heinick can be reached at Calhoun Vision, 171 N. Altadena Drive, Suite 201, Pasadena, CA 91107; email: info@calhounvision.com.
Disclosure: Heinick is president and CEO of Calhoun Vision.