MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A pair of Philadelphia ophthalmologists accused medtech company Allergan (NYSE:AGN) of offering doctors illegal kickbacks in exchange for prescriptions of the Allergan’s eye drugs.
Optical/Ophthalmic
Bioheart launches clinical trial for stem cell vision loss therapy
Big 100 West: Engineering, naivety and the birth of Second Sight’s ‘bionic eye’
Lumenis files for $115M IPO
Lumenis Ltd., an Israeli medtech company that makes lasers used in eye surgery, urology and cosmetic medical procedures, filed today for an initial public offering worth $115 million.
Yokneam, Israel-based Lumenis said it plans to trade on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the "LMNS" symbol.
UK regulators OK pSivida’s Iluvien
Staar Surgical’s Toric ICL vision-correcting lens gets a date with the FDA
Thanksgiving leftovers and laser eye surgery – A recipe for innovation
If you are among the tens of millions of patients who have undergone laser vision-correction surgery, you may want to be extra thankful for your Thanksgiving turkey this year, as it played an important role in bringing LASIK technology out of the lab and into the clinic.
Avalanche Biotechnologies raises $5.7M for eye treatment
Avalanche Biotechnologies said it raised nearly $5.7 million of a hoped-for $6.1 million equity round for the age-related macular degeneration treatment it’s developing.
The Avalanche technology is a drug-delivery system designed to trigger the production of a therapeutic protein by the body’s own cells, creating what the company calls a "Bio-Factory" in the patient’s eye, according to its website.
Funding: French retinal implant maker Pixium Vision raises $20M
Retinal implants maker Pixium landed a $20.3 million (€15 million) Series A funding round, planning to use the funds to further develop its IRIS "bionic eye" technology.
Avedro wins FDA priority review
Avedro said the FDA granted priority review to the new drug application for its riboflavin ophthalmic solution used with its KXL system.
The priority review for the Waltham, Mass.-based medical device company draws Avedro closer to treating keratoconus and corneal ectasia. Keratoconus is a potentially blinding disease, for which limited therapeutic treatment is available in the US. Corneal ectasia is a rare outcome of refractive surgery but is a progressive condition that is difficult to manage, according to a press release.
Restoring sight to the blind: A conversation with Second Sight’s Robert Greenberg
Second Sight Medical’s Argus II "bionic eye" is likely the most talked-about medical device of 2013.
The retinal prosthesis, approved by the FDA last summer, isn’t slated to hit the market until 2014, but the buzz around the device is already at a fever pitch.