Eyes On. Glaucoma

??? Glaucoma Awareness Month ???

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month with company's and professionals across the space using this time to increase education and awareness of the disease.

In the past, I've also shared similar educational content but this year I wanted to highlight some companies in the space that had a great end to the year and are definitely worth following in 2024:

iSTAR Medical

Location: Wavre, Belgium

CEO: Michel Vanbrabant

Website: www.istar-medical.com

2023 was iSTAR Medical 's second full commercial year and saw them expand into new markets across Europe as well as increasing their team size with new hires in the leadership team and commercial sales force.

Their MINIject MIGS device is currently the only commercially available device of it's kind that targets the supraciliary space and has now been used to treat over 2500 patients. And they aren't looking to stop there, over recent weeks it was announced that the first implants outside of Europe took place with surgeries taking place in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, Australia.

Alongside their STAR-V trial in the US, they initiated the STAR-VI trial internationally which seeks to evaluate safety and efficacy of the MINIject.

As 2024 develops, I expect continued market expansion for iSTAR as they grow as a bigger name in the MIGS space and I'm sure there will be plenty of exciting news coming from this business so make sure you give them a follow or look out for them at your next conference.

Belkin Vision

Location: Yavne, Israel

CEO: Daria Lemann-Blumenthal

Website: https://belkin-vision.com/

BELKIN Vision are a company that I have featured and mentioned in my posts numerous times over the past couple of years and for good reason. If you have attended a conference that they were exhibiting the Eagle at, then you will have seen how busy there booth always is and the buzz around it. And for good reason...

The Eagle is described as the first and only contactless DSLT laser for glaucoma and provides an automated and non-invasive solution for patients.

Throughout 2023, the availability of the Eagle expanded across Europe with Belkin creating distribution partnerships across the UK, Germany, Italy and other markets.

In December, it was announced that the Eagle had received FDA clearance in the US which sets them up for an exciting 2024 as the company continues to grow.

Glaukos

Location: Aliso Viejo, USA

CEO: Thomas Burns

Website: https://www.glaukos.com/en-uk/

Glaukos are definitely not a company that are new to the glaucoma space and immediately come to mind during any conversations about MIGS devices due to their famous iStent solutions.

They have expanded into other sectors of eyecare too, developing a cornea portfolio and a pipeline of pharmaceutical platforms focused on retina, keratoconus, presbyopia, dry eye and other areas.

But glaucoma remains a large part of their focus for the future, highlighted by the news at the end of 2023 that the iDose TR implant received FDA approval.

The iDose is a first-of-its-kind prostaglandin implant designed for continuous delivery of therapeutic levels of travoprost inside the eye for the reduction of IOP in patients with ocular hypertension or open-angle glaucoma.

Glaukos Corporation plan to initiate commercial launches of iDose in the US in the latter half of 2024.

Elios Vision

Location: Los Angeles, USA

CEO: elliot friedman

Website: https://eliosvision.com/

Elios Vision are another company that saw exciting growth last year. Milestones for the business in 2023 included completing enrolment of over 300 patients for its US pivotal trial, additions to US leadership team, collaboration with the International Glaucoma Surgical Registry and building out traction across multiple European markets whilst expanding their commercial teams there.

Elios offer an implant free alternative to MIGS procedures and aims to fill the gap for patients who require more treatment than a drop approach, but not a surgical approach, whilst also offering a successful approach to combined cataract and glaucoma procedures.

The Elios uses high-precision, non-thermal laser ablation to enhance outflow into the Schlemm's canal.

I'm certain that Elios Vision will continue their upward trajectory throughout 2024 and are definitely another company worth keeping an eye on.

Ciliatech

Location: Chavanod, France

CEO: Olivier BENOIT

Website: https://www.cilia.tech/

Ciliatech are another company that have featured in my recent news posts. The France based start-up released the new design of their cilioscleral interpositioning device in December which further improved the performance and safety making the procedure technique less invasive and traumatic to the eye.

The 2nd generation device is currently in clinical trials with preliminary 12-month results showing that the new design delivers better IOP control and may be more beneficial for advanced cases.

The company have recently added to their leadership team and there will be further information and clinical data released throughout 2024.

Despite the challenges that it has faced recently, there continues to be innovation and exciting developments in the Glaucoma space moving into 2024 and I'll be excited to share these milestones with my network.

Have I missed anyone? Who are you excited to follow throughout 2024?