Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX, TSE:VRX) subsidiary Bausch & Lomb said today it won FDA 510(k) clearance for its Vitesse hypersonic open port vitrectomy system. The Bridgewater, N.J.-based company touted the newly cleared system as the 1st and only hypersonic 100% open port vitrectomy system, and said it will be exclusively available on the Stellaris Elite vision enhancement […]
Optical/Ophthalmic
Novartis misses on rev, tops sales estimates in Q1
Shares in Novartis (NYSE:NVS) rose today after the pharmaceutical company met expectations on Wall Street with its 1st quarter earnings, but missed on sales largely thanks to growing pressure from generics to the company’s top-selling chemotherapy, Gleevec. The company posted profits of $1.92 billion, or 22¢ per share, on sales of $11.53 billion for the 3 months […]
Ivantis launches 2nd IDE study of Hydrus microstent
Ivantis said today it won approval from the FDA to initiate a 2nd investigational device exemption trial of its Hydrus microstent, testing the device in patients with advanced glaucoma who are undergoing stand-alone glaucoma surgery without combined cataract surgery. The Hydrus microstent is designed for minimally invasive microsurgical procedures to reduce eye pressure in patients with […]
How IBM is using deep learning to detect diabetic eye disease
IBM’s deep learning technology can detect and classify the severity of diabetic retinopathy with 86% accuracy, according to new research. The diagnostic tool could help doctors and physicians better understand disease progression and determine treatment, IBM said. The company’s technology was trained to identify lesions using more than 35,000 eye images. It can classify the […]
Beaver-Visitec picks up Malosa Medical
Beaver-Visitec said today it acquired U.K.-based single-use ophthalmology surgical instrument maker Malosa Medical for an undisclosed amount. Malosa Medical has a portfolio of more than 400 products, according to Beaver-Visitec. Malosa packages its sets in sterilized, single-use packs which contain all required instruments and consumables for specific ophthalmic procedures, including cataract surgery and intravitreal injections, BVI […]
Eyevensys wins approval to start clinical development of EyeCET platform
Private biotech Eyevensys said today that it won approval from the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to advance its EyeCET platform into clinical development. The company’s EyeCET platform uses an electro-transfection injection system to deliver non-viral plasmids that encode for disease-specific therapeutic proteins in the ciliary muscle of the eye. Eyevensys’ lead product […]
Clearside closes patient enrollment in trial for diabetic macular edema therapy
Clearside Biomedical (NSDQ:CLSD) said today that it finished enrollment for the Phase 1/2 study of CLS-TA in patients with diabetic macular edema. The Hulk trial is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a suprachoroidal injection of its suspension formulation of a corticosteroid, triamcinolone acetonide, with and without an intravitreal injection of Eylea in […]
Imprimis, Precision Lens sign marketing and sales agreement
Imprimis Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:IMMY) said today that it signed a 3-year exclusive sales agreement with Precision Lens. According to the deal, Precision Lens plans to deploy a sales team to expand Imprimis’ ophthalmic portfolio in 13 states across the U.S. Midwest. Precision Lens said it will sell San Diego-based Imprimis’ Dropless Therapy, LessDrops combination eye drops […]
Glaukos drops $6m on Dose Medical’s IOP sensor system
Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) said today that it acquired Dose Medical‘s intraocular pressure sensor system assets for $5.5 million in cash, plus $9.5 million contingent upon development, clinical and regulatory milestones. The Dose Medical IOP sensor system includes a micro-invasive ocular implant that captures and stores a glaucoma patient’s short-interval IOP measurements. The system transmits data to […]
Glaukos slides on report of increased competition from Alcon
Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) shares are off some 7% today on a report that increased competition from the Alcon unit of Novartis (NYSE:NVS). The once-high-flying stock could lose 30% of its value this year as Glaukos loses its monopoly on the ocular stent, according to a report today in Barron’s. The San Clemente, Calif.-based company’s iStent, which won FDA […]
Retinal imager dev Vasoptic Medical raises $1.5m
Portable retinal imager developer Vasoptic Medical raised $1.5 million in a new round of equity financing, according to an SEC filing posted last week. The Baltimore, Md.-based company is developing a portable retinal imaging device designed to capture physiological information from the retinal microvasculature. Vasoptic Medical said that such information can provide a quantitative means of […]