Alcon to launch Total30 for astigmatism in early 2023
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SAN DIEGO — Alcon announced plans to introduce a toric design for its Total30 contact lenses in early 2023, according to company executives who spoke during a press conference for the company’s 75th anniversary at Academy 2022.
Sean Clark, Alcon’s vice president and general manager of U.S. vision care, stated that the company’s Dailies Total1 for Astigmatism, which launched in January 2022, made Alcon “the fastest growing manufacturer in dailies torics today.”
He said the Total30 for astigmatism marries Alcon’s Celligent and Water Gradient technologies, and studies have shown a 95% first fit rate.
“It settles very quickly, much like you see with our other core lenses,” Clark said. “It settles within 3 degrees of ideal orientation and has less than 3 degrees of oscillation with blink. This allows us to continue to grow in the toric space, which is an underserved portion of the population.”
Andy Pawson, president and general manager of Alcon’s global vision care franchise, said at the press conference that the company’s goal is to become carbon neutral across global operations by 2030 and divert 100% of nonhazardous waste generated at manufacturing sites and distribution centers from landfill.
Pawson also said that Alcon has recently partnered with the World Council of Optometry (WCO) to deliver dry eye expertise to practitioners around the world.
Incoming WCO President Sandra Block, OD, said the council is designed to focus on the needs of optometry globally.
“There are many challenges to optometry outside the U.S. — scope of practice, regulation, even acknowledgment that it’s a profession,” she said. “Our goal is to help optometrists [elevate] their role as a profession and help their patients.”
Block noted that WCO has worked to develop a series of webinars involving dry eye experts “that will help optometrists at all levels of practice treat their patients with dry eye disease.”
During a question-and-answer session, Clark addressed the optometrist’s role with Pataday (olopatadine HCl) over-the-counter eye drops.
“There are two groups we focus on,” he said, “people who were using the prior prescription version who now don’t have to go through a payer or a pharmacy, and the people who don’t realize there are effective eyedrops for eye itch relief. They see the tablets and [nasal sprays], but they don’t see Pataday because it might not be in the same section. We’re testing out dual placement with a few retailers.
“Now that we’ve gotten back in the prescription business and expanded our sales force, we can touch more of them with the message that Pataday is OTC and give them coupons,” Clark continued. “We’re investigating in-office sales, but a lot of practices struggle with maintaining inventory. We’re looking for ways to get that product into practice.”
The executives were also asked about Alcon’s involvement in myopia management.
“We are as active as any of our competitors in the myopia management and control innovation space,” Pawson said. “We’re looking at technologies that can make a real difference and be worldwide market accessible. We want to make sure we can bring a differentiation that can either stop or aggressively slow down progression. It’s up to the industry to solve.
“We invest over $700 million across our vision care and surgical franchises, but we want to create something that is a breakthrough, and we want it to be accessible to people around the world, not just those who can afford it.”
Pawson said that Alcon “has re-entered the pharmaceutical space. We’re interested in dry eye, glaucoma ... We will look at what is available around the world and, ultimately, you’ll see us playing in all of those spaces. There are over 275 different systemic conditions that manifest in ocular findings. Alcon will play in the ones that are affecting the largest number of people around the world.”
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Press Conference
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