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July 21, 2009 |
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Welcome to the 50th issue of News
Update, our email news service alerting members to contact lens and
related stories in the lay and professional press. Here’s a summary of some
of the recent stories, including the latest news from industry and
information on contact lenses for teens and children. B&L cuts jobs in Ireland and moves work to US The Irish Times (July 1) was among the first to report job cuts at Bausch
& Lomb’s Daysoft online sales fuel further
growth The Scotsman (July 3) reported that contact lens manufacturer Daysoft had announced a £2.5m investment in its
Lanarkshire premises with the addition of 35 jobs, bringing the total
employed to 150. Daysoft sells daily disposable
lenses direct to consumers online and claims that every week 3,000 wearers
switch to its product, the paper said. Chairman and founder of Daysoft Ron Hamilton told the aptly named local paper the
Hamilton Advertiser (July 9), ‘Our growing online sales mean that for
more clicks we can invest in more bricks.’ Companies report second-quarter results Three of the major contact lens and care product companies
released their second-quarter results last week. Johnson & Johnson (July
14) reported sales of $15.2bn for the quarter, down 7.4% on the second
quarter of 2008, although its vision care business achieved operational sales
growth of 1.9%. Abbott Laboratories (July 15) reported second-quarter sales
up 2.5% at $7.49bn and cited acquisition costs related to Advanced Medical
Optics (AMO) as impacting results. Sales at Novartis, parent company of CIBA
Vision, fell 2% to $10.55bn. Consumer health sales edged up 2% led by growth
in the rollout of new contact lens products, Novartis said (July 16). New resource for the contact lens specialist ContactLensResearch.com is a new website bringing the
latest research findings to eye care practitioners. Set up by the US-based
Foundation for Contact Lens and Cornea Research, the site provides video
commentary from leading researchers plus other resources and links. Among
current presenters is Dr Suzanne Fleiszig of the New findings on complications of contact lens wear Two papers this month shed light on the prevalence and
symptoms of contact lens-related complications. The UCLA Contact Lens Study
in the July issue of Eye & Contact Lens looks at types and
prevalence of complications among 572 contact lens wearers seen in a
university clinic. Papillary changes were the most prevalent complications
among RGP and soft lens wearers. Silicone hydrogels
had a slightly lower, though not statistically different rate of
complications than hydrogel lenses. Use of generic
and private label solutions was associated with a higher rate of
complications than name brand solutions (Weissman
BA et al. Eye & CL 2009;35:4 176-180).Click here
to see an abstract of this paper In the latest publication from Vision CRC, Sydney on
contact lens-related microbial keratitis (MK), Keay and co-workers found that although pain was the most
common symptom, progression of symptoms despite lens removal was almost
universal. Poor general health, particularly respiratory and thyroid disease,
was more common in these MK cases than in the general population (Keay L et al. Optom Vis Sci 2009;86:7 803-9). Click here
for the abstract of this paper, published in the July issue of Optometry
and Vision Science. Targeting teens and children Contact lenses for teens and children have
been a strong theme this year with several companies targeting these markets.
This month CIBA Vision launches a IN
BRIEF ·
Ultralase will become the largest provider of laser eye surgery in ·
Contact Lenses Today (June 30) carried news that the American Optometric
Association had voted in favour of establishing the American Board of
Optometry to develop and implement a framework for board certification and
maintenance of certification standards in the US. ·
In the latest editorial on the website siliconehydrogels.com,
Craig Woods, Philip Morgan and Alisa Sival review
worldwide trends in silicone hydrogel lens wear.
Click here to
access the editorial, plus other features and resources. ·
In India, The Hindu (June 26) reported that the LV Prasad Eye
Institute in Hyderabad was working on a collaborative project to develop
spectacles and contact lenses to retard myopic progression in children. The
lenses were expected to be available commercially within the next 2-3 years,
it said. ·
According to the Southeast Texas Record (June 25), Rembrandt
Vision Technologies is filing a suit against Johnson & Johnson Vision
Care for patent infringement, after receiving a $47m award from CIBA Vision
(News Update, February 29, 2008) and an undisclosed settlement with Bausch
& Lomb. ·
NHS Wales announced (June 24) a pilot scheme to evaluate the
feasibility of diagnosing and monitoring of glaucoma by optometrists in the
community, supported by hospital consultants. If successful, the scheme will
be developed to roll out across Click here to comment on any of the items
reported in BCLA News Update. Log in to the members-only section and select
‘Bulletin Board’. Visit the BCLA website www.bcla.org.uk for information on all
the Association’s activities or contact vfreeman@bcla.org.uk, tel +44 (0)207 580 6661 or fax +44 (0)207 580 6669. To change or remove your email address or to submit news,
email news@bcla.org.uk. |
