News

After many years as a partner and supporter of Prevent Blindness America (PBA), Allergan Inc. has awarded PBA an advocacy grant to provide funding for The Eye Care Advocacy Network (Eye CAN).

Dipak Panigrahi, MD, senior vice president, research and development, and chief medical officer of QLT has stepped down from his position with QLT.

Prevent Blindness America (PBA) held its 6th annual "Eyes on Capitol Hill" event on March 2. This annual event was designed to give community leaders and patient advocates the opportunity to meet with government representatives to discuss vision issues.

The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) of China has granted Oculus GmbH SFDA certification for the HR version of its Pentacam camera. As the first rotating Scheimpflug camera on the world market, this camera provides 3-dimensional views of the anterior segment. This certification allows full marketing and sales of this instrument in thee People's Republic of China.

A line of photochromic performance sunwear (SOLFX, Transitions) debuted to more than 40,000 Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) of America and Ladies Professional Golf Association officials; retail and equipment buyers; golf course owners, managers, and developers; and golf instructors at the 2011 PGA Merchandise Show Jan. 26 to 29 in Orlando.

The FDA has granted final approval to Hi-Tech Pharmacal Co. Inc. for the company's abbreviated new drug application for levofloxacin ophthalmic solution 0.5%, the generic for a proprietary ophthalmic solution (Quixin, Vistakon). The product is indicated for bacterial conjunctivitis.

Inspire Pharmaceuticals is undertaking a corporate restructuring designed to allow the company to focus on its eye-care business.

Sanofi-Aventis, a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, is reportedly exploring the possibility of making four acquisitions in the ophthalmology sector totaling $1.35 billion, according to the French newspaper Les Echos. According to the newspaper, which cited unnamed sources, three of the targeted companies are based in the United States, and the fourth one is based in Israel.

Last week?s Ophthalmology Times e-News erroneously reported that Transitions Optical?s Spanish-language courses, to be offered during International Vision Expo East, were approved for American Board of Ophthalmology credit. Rather, the courses are approved for American Board of Opticianry credit.

The International Vision Expo East, slated for March 16 to 20 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City, will include more than 55 hours of courses on managing for profitability and using technology.

A once-daily formulation of bromfenac ophthalmic solution 0.09% (Bromday, ISTA Pharmaceuticals) has been adopted quickly, so the twice-daily formulation of the (Xibrom, ISTA Pharmaceuticals) will be discontinued, according to the company.

QLT Inc. has halted a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-masked phase II proof-of-concept trial of an olopatadine (Patanol, Alcon) punctal plug delivery system (O-PPDS) after the study model ?could not generate definitive clinical results,? according to company officials.

The primary endpoint has been met in one of two phase 3 studies evaluating monthly ranibizumab injection (Lucentis, Genentech) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME), according to the company.

"The Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) ?applauded those who give? at its annual benefit and celebration Jan. 26. The theme of this year?s dinner, auction, and presentations was ?Applauding Those Who Give,? and the benefit focused on recent results from GRF-funded research and the donors who made it possible. "

Transitions Optical Inc. will once again support a Spanish-language education track during International Vision Expo East, to be held March 18 to 20 at the Jacob J. Javits Center in New York City. This is the second year that Spanish-language courses will be offered to event attendees.

"A seminar designed to help investors identify opportunities and evaluate potential investment in ophthalmic research will take place in Fort Lauderdale, FL, April 29. The seminar, entitled ?Unmet Needs: Emerging Frontiers in Ophthalmic Science,? is being organized by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Foundation for Eye Research (AFER). "

Refinements made to the scleral spacing procedure that uses a scleral implant and a limbal-sparing incision have improved the long-term efficacy of the procedure.

Findings from initial experiments indicate the feasibility of using femtosecond laser pulses for in situ creation of customized IOLs.

Patient comfort is a major concern after PRK.

The author says that is is a source of pride and relief that, in the middle of the recession, his son recently became a gainfully employed citizen and taxpayer.

If you are not a technician, how can you survive the jungle of managing a staff of technicians? Go back to the age of dinosaurs.

There is a growing awareness that business strategies used in the fashion industry can be applied successfully in the ophthalmic market.

Results of a study applying image quality metrics already in use by the photography industry provide better understanding of the imaging properties of existing presbyopia-correcting IOLs.

The differential diagnosis of a hereditary optic neuropathy includes four possible disease categories.

Results from 6 months of follow-up in a prospective, multicenter European clinical trial show that the toric version of the foldable iris-fixated phakic IOL provides stable, effective correction of myopic astigmatism with a high safety index.

Studies in a mouse model suggest that an orally active antioxidant, N-acetylecysteine (NAC), may be beneficial in the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa.

ASCRS' annual meeting returns to San Diego this year, March 25-29.

Patients can achieve adequate uncorrected far and near vision with an increase of the depth of field with Q-adjustment and monovision.