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CooperVision acquires Blanchard, expands scleral lens portfolio
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CooperVision has expanded its scleral lens offerings through the acquisition of Blanchard Contact Lenses, according to a company announcement.
“This is part of a broader strategy at CooperVision to expand into the specialty segment of the contact lens market, which is seeing significant growth,” Juan Carlos Aragon, president of CooperVision’s Specialty EyeCare Division, told Primary Care Optometry News. “We’ve been [broadening our strategy] for a few years now with the acquisition of Procornea in The Netherlands in August 2017 and Paragon, here in the U.S. in December 2017.”
Blanchard has a strong brand position in North America, Europe, Central America and South America, according to the press release. The company recently introduced the OneFit MED scleral lens and has products available in more than 20 countries.
Blanchard is one of the leaders in the specialty segment, Aragon added.
“They, now we, have a fantastic product portfolio in specialties, with the OneFit and OneFit MED product. This allows CooperVision to offer eye care providers in North American and beyond yet another product to provide even newer technology and better serve patients. This is, again, CooperVision going deeper and wider into the contact lenses business with innovative technology and a fantastic company and growing that segment of the market,” Aragon said.
Blanchard Contact Lenses President Jean Blanchard will continue to lead the organization and has been appointed as a member of the CooperVision Specialty EyeCare global management team, according to the press release. Blanchard has operations in Sherbrooke, Quebec and Manchester, N.H., with 70 employees. The company will retain its name and continue to operate as a separate, yet complementary, organization.
The acquisition, which includes the Canadian and U.S. entities, is complete, according to a CooperVision spokesperson.
Blanchard’s products, services, technologies and people will augment what CooperVision is building with Paragon, Procornea and Soflex, the spokesperson said. Each organization operates independently yet shares technical, clinical and commercial knowledge, benefiting from CooperVision’s global presence and infrastructure.
“Everything is business as usual under new ownership. With CooperVision resources we have the ability to take these fantastic products to a larger number of patients in North America,” Aragon said. – by Abigail Sutton
Disclosure: Aragon is employed by CooperVision. He previously served in leadership positions with Ocular Sciences, CIBA Vision and Bausch + Lomb. Aragon volunteers as chairman of the board of directors of Optometry Giving Sight and serves as a trustee of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and Vision Aid Overseas.