Brien Holden Vision Institute expands into commercial projects

SEATTLE –The Brien Holden Vision Institute announced here at the American Academy of Optometry meeting its plans to establish commercial subsidiaries to bring many of the products its researchers develop to market.

The institute refers to itself in its literature as a social enterprise, with the mission to “develop new solutions for vision care and eliminate vision impairment and avoidable blindness, thereby reducing poverty and suffering.”

Researchers in the BHVI centers around the world undertake basic research and perform trials to understand clinical problems and develop and evaluate the performance of eye care systems and products.

The Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI), which operates in 54 countries, plans to purchase companies to bring its products into the marketplace, according to BHVI Chief Executive Officer Brien A. Holden, PhD, DSc, LOSc.

“The organizations would be owned by the BHVI and the money would go back into research, education, public health and humanitarian projects,” Holden told Primary Care Optometry News.

“The aim is to invest in these projects and companies and to also develop contact lens solutions, diagnostics, myopia-control spectacles and contact lenses and high-end presbyopic solutions,” he said.

He also sees the BHVI working with other distributors in these efforts and even large corporations once the products are established.

“It’s a large social enterprise spinning off a large commercial company that will have transparency and a set of values: quality, integrity, performance and affordability,” Holden said.

“We co-invented silicone hydrogel with CIBA Vision,” he continued. “Now it’s 60% of the world’s business and $200 million in royalties for BHVI. If we get higher up on the food chain, we could have had $2 billion instead of that $200 million to reinvest in eliminating avoidable blindness and impaired vision.”

BHVI has purchased a controlling interest in Quantum Catch, now Brien Holden Vision Diagnostics, which is focused on designing, manufacturing and selling affordable, high-quality diagnostic medical devices, according to a BHVI press release.

Through this effort, an intelligent retinal camera designed to reduce the cost of detection, screening and monitoring of diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma is expected to be available at the end of 2014, Holden said.

With such technology, a technician in a remote location can take an image that could be evaluated by the instrument for referral to a clinician located elsewhere.

Holden told PCON that in addition to a higher percentage of royalties from BHVI-based commercial ventures coming back into the institute for its humanitarian projects, the institute can continue to take risks larger companies historically avoid.

“Companies like to buy completed products that have been tested,” he said.

“We have put $80 million of BHVI and the Australian government’s money into the Accommodating Gel project,” he said.

This is a clear flexible gel-lens system designed as an alternative to conventional IOLs.

“If it works, we could restore natural accommodation to everyone with a cataract,” Holden said. “Most companies can’t afford to risk the time and money we have already put into this.”

Holden also told PCON that the BHVI plans to mount an international advocacy campaign about the dangers of high myopia, especially myopic macular degeneration.

“Optometry has ways of slowing the process of myopia,” he said. “If these products work properly, we’ll be able to prevent more blindness than just about any other program in the world.”