Soft contact lens prices raise 1.3% in 2008

Key Points

Coral Springs, FL-Independent eye-care professionals (ECPs) raised retail prices of 20 leading soft contact lens brands a weighted average of 1.3% during 2008, according to recent data from ABB CONCISE's Soft Lens Retail Price Monitor.

Of the 20 brands included in the analysis, average ECP pricing rose for 18 brands during 2008, while pricing decreased for two brands. Average prices rose 1% for brands in each major lens segment.

The estimates are derived from ABB CONCISE's quarterly audit of independent ECP retail pricing. Average prices reported are the average of the four quarterly audits in 2007 and 2008. The pricing of more than 450 practices is used to calculate the averages for each year. Brands included in the composite average are those that were audited in each of the eight quarters over the past 2 years. These brands account for approximately 76% of wholesale sales of frequent replacement contact lenses.