Two approvals for STAAR Surgical

Monrovia, CA-STAAR Surgical Co. has received CE Mark approval for a proprietary IOL (KS-SP Preloaded Single Piece Hydrophobic Acrylic Intraocular Lens) and has received approval for marketing a proprietary implantable lens design (Visian Implantable Collamer Lens V4) in Brazil. The company plans to launch both products in their respective markets during the second half of 2011.

According to STARR Surgical, the IOL’s proprietary injector system employs an independently sourced lens that has been shown to be “glistening free,” which the company says will reduce glistening issues that can affect lenses made of hydrophobic acrylic materials.

A limited marketing launch of the product is planned in July, with a full market launch starting the fourth quarter.

Hans Blickensdoerfer, STAAR's president of Europe and Latin America, said these recent approvals provide STAAR with the opportunity to expand its product offerings significantly to ophthalmologists in Europe and Latin America.

“With CE Mark approval of the [preloaded single-piece lens], STAAR has a much more competitive product line [because] the single-piece, hydrophobic acrylic segment represents the largest segment of the IOL market today,” Blickensdoerfer said. “Initially, we plan to focus on the markets in Germany, France, and Italy.”

He added that approval of the proprietary implantable lens in Brazil represents a cornerstone of the company’s overall market strategy for the product in Latin America.

“The population in Brazil is known to be more open to cosmetic and elective surgery than [in] other countries, and our implantable collamer lens offers competitive advantages in terms of quality of vision and comfort that we believe will be well-received,” Blickensdoerfer said. “We are now reviewing our sales and marketing organization in order to maximize the return in key adjoining markets like Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico.”