News

The excitement in retina during the past year has been about the promise of the development of more effective treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, the excitement has been mixed with a measure of disappointment surrounding the therapies in the pipeline but tempered by the possibility of combination therapies that warrant exploration and tweaking.

The unexpected move by Advanced Medical Optics Inc. (AMO) to acquire VISX Inc. in a $1.27 billion cash and stock deal caught Wall Street-and many in the ophthalmic industry-by complete surprise.

Chicago-Topical eye medications penetrate the cornea more rapidly after LASIK because of corneal thinning, said Hak Sung Chung, MD, PhD. As a result, pupils dilate more rapidly in these eyes after 1% tropicamide is instilled, which carries potential benefits as well as disadvantages for patients.

New York-Combining phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) and wavefront-guided photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) seems to be a winning approach to dealing with residual myopia and longstanding striae after LASIK, according to Eric D. Donnenfeld, MD, who described the procedure.

Bilbao, Spain-A research team from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of the Basque Country (EHU), led by cell biologist Elena Vecino, has been awarded a grant by the American Glaucoma Foundation for its study of animal glaucoma models, the first time that the North American Foundation has presented an award to a European research work.

Developments in refractive surgery continue and are dependent on advances in the associated technologies that drive them.

The year 2004 has been marked by important developments in IOLs.

Coronado Island, CA-The focus of attention in caring for babies with incontinentia pigmenti (IP) should be on the potential for rapid development of irreversible blindness rather than on the clinically obvious skin manifestations, said Morton F. Goldberg, MD, in the Gertrude D. Pyron Award Lecture at the annual meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology's (AAO) Web site (www.aao.org) has a new look and feel, with a redesigned home to add artistic and visual appeal and to make navigation more intuitive.

Rochester, NY-Bausch & Lomb has honored the achievements of four ophthalmologists as visionaries for their work in eye health.

IVAX Corp. joins the growing number of drug manufacturers to market its version of brimonidine tartrate ophthalmic solution 0.2%.

The FDA has given 510(k) clearance to IRIDEX Corp.'s solid-state IRIS Medical IQ 810 infrared diode laser photocoagulator for the treatment of retinal disorders and glaucoma.

Heidelberg Engineering has received FDA clearance for its Rostock Cornea Module, a key component of its confocal laser microscope.

East Baltimore, MD-The new Walter J. Stark, MD, and Margaret C. Mosher Center for Cataract and Corneal Disease at Johns Hopkins' Wilmer Eye Institute will focus on research, evaluation, and management of corneal and external eye diseases, especially cataracts.

Marshfield Hills, MA-FCI Ophthalmics has won distribution rights for the Mackool Cataract Support System.

Sterling, VA-WaveLight's chief executive officer said the company has achieved its greatest accomplishment to date by capturing 20% of all new refractive laser sales in the United States during the last 12 months with its Allegretto Wave.

Santa Barbara, CA-Miravant Medical Technologies has picked Photrex as the brand name for its tin ethyl etiopurpurin (SnET2) drug being developed for photodynamic therapy in the treatment of wet AMD.

Aliso Viejo, CA-The FDA has given Eyeonics Inc. approval to market its Crystalens accommodating IOL in quarter-diopter steps. The approval makes eyeonics the first U.S. company to launch 0.25-D IOLs, the company said. The lenses were made available Nov. 1 to credentialed Crystalens surgeons.

New York-Stuart L. Fine, MD, chairman of the department of ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and director of the Scheie Eye Institute, Philadelphia, has won the 2004 Lighthouse International Pisart Vision Award.

Fountain Hills, AZ-Officials with Coronado Industries Inc., which makes proprietary devices for use in pneumatic trabeculoplasty (PNT), are planning to negotiate distribution rights for the United States market following what they call a successful run at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in New Orleans in October.

Duluth, GA-Norwood EyeCare, a subsidiary of Melbourne, Australia-based Norwood Abbey, has opened its North American headquarters outside of Atlanta in an area vacated by CIBA Vision's surgical business and with the talents of one of that company's senior executives.

Fremont, CA-Nine months into its hyperopia clinical study, Nidek has analyzed 248 of the 300 eyes to be studied for the treatment of hyperopia and hyperopic astigmatism.

New Orleans-Awareness of strategies for preventing post-LASIK dry eye are important because if it occurs, it can lead to unhappy patients and be challenging to treat, said Stephen C. Pflugfelder, MD, in a keynote address during the American Academy of Ophthalmology's refractive surgery subspecialty day.

Although the news of Advanced Medical Optics Inc. (AMO) buying VISX caught many on Wall Street off guard, several analysts are saying the deal makes sense in retrospect.

Irvine, CA-IntraLase Corp. glided into the public realm in early October with a successful initial public offering (IPO) at the top of its indicated range, selling nearly 7.3 million shares and raising $86.6 million.

Dublin, CA-The acquisition of San Diego-based Laser Diagnostic Technologies Inc. (LDT) by global device manufacturer and distributor Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc. will give greater exposure to the former company's single product-a novel technology for detecting glaucoma.

Sylmar, CA-Second Sight Medical Prod-ucts Inc. (SSMP) has created a partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE) Artificial Retina Project under a cooperative research and development agree-ment.

San Francisco-EyeCare America, the public service program of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (FAAO), received a $1.125 million grant from Alcon Laboratories Inc., Fort Worth, TX.