Alcon targets contact lens care products for in-office sale

ATLANTA – Alcon is currently working on "an exclusive line of products that doctors can sell directly," the company announced at a press conference here at SECO.

Eric Bruno, general manager for U.S. Vision Care for Alcon, said that the company hopes the line will help both optometrists and patients.

"It was really spurred by our belief in supporting the fitter and the health care practitioner," he explained. "And any time a recommendation – what a doctor says the patient should do – is diluted between the time they leave that chair and what they're doing, we believe that we can do things differently."

Bruno expressed disappointment with the results of a challenge that Alcon filed against Bausch + Lomb and Wal-Mart concerning "compare to" statements on packing for Equate contact lens care products.

Eric Bruno

"If you walk into Wal-Mart, you see Opti-Free Pure Moist, BioTrue – manufactured by Bausch + Lomb – and then you have private label Equate," he said. "In the upper right hand corner of the Equate box, it says ‘compare to Opti-Free Pure Moist.’"

Bruno said that Bausch + Lomb has an agreement with Wal-Mart to manufacture their private label, but Alcon does not.

Richard E. Weisbarth, OD, FAAO, Alcon vice president of professional affairs, said that patients are not the only party affected by the situation.

"Not only does it lead to patient confusion, it leads to practitioner indifference," he told Primary Care Optometry News. "They don't feel they can fight it. How am I going to fight the big box – whether it's a drugstore or a superstore or a club? I can't fight it."

Bruno explained that this scenario factored into the company's decision to explore an alternate route of selling product.

"There is a huge gap between doctor recommendation and what's happening [after patients leave the office],” he said. “What we're looking to do is … take our line of contact lens care products, including rinse-and-go and the new products you see here, and make them an exclusive line – maybe exclusive sizes and packaging and education materials – so doctors can sell contact lens care products," he said.

Bruno said that Alcon is looking to launch the line at Optometry’s Meeting. – by Chelsea Frajerman