Eyes On. May

Eyes On.

Welcome to the May edition of the Eyes On. newsletter (a little late I know, but May has been super busy) by Danny Laycock and #CMOphthalmology

In this edition we are featuring our Top 5 Ophthalmology News highlights from May. Did we miss something big that happened at your company? Leave us a comment or a message to let us know.

Eyes On. Iveric Bio

Huge news at the beginning of May was the announcement that Astellas Pharma entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Iveric Bio, An Astellas Company to become an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of the Japanese pharma company.

Astellas have five primary focus areas that they have identified for the businesses and one of these is "Blindness & Regeneration". The acquisition of Iveric Bio, An Astellas Company is part of their goal to prioritise investment of resources into these areas. The acquisition is expected to be completed in Q3 of this year.

"The opportunity to create a world-class?entity with the ophthalmology expertise and capabilities of Iveric Bio and the global reach and resources of Astellas is unique and has the potential to benefit patients worldwide suffering from blinding retinal diseases, including GA," - Pravin Dugel

Iveric Bio CEO, Glenn Sblendorio added "This transaction with Astellas, a highly respected pharmaceutical company, demonstrates the significant value that we have built for our stockholders and recognizes the tremendous work by our dedicated team at Iveric Bio,"

Very exciting news for the companies involved and the future of GA drug development.

Eyes On. iHealthScreen

New York based, iHealthScreen Inc became the first company to submit for FDA 510(k) clearance for AMD screening with their iPredict system.

The iPredict AI Eye Screening software is capable of fully automated AMD screening including retinal imaging and immediate reporting of actionable results.

iHealthScreen Inc has proposed the following indications for their system:

• iPredict-AMD is indicated for use by health care providers to automatically detect more than early age-related macular degeneration (mteAMD) in adults above 50 years of age who have not been previously diagnosed with Late AMD (i.e., not legally blind or not showing blind spots in their visual field).
• iPredict-AMD is indicated for use with the DRSPlus color fundus camera (iCare Inc. K192113) in both primary care and eye care settings.

The company are currently aiming to raise funding to continue delivering their low cost, AI solutions to primary care around the world and you can take a look further here - https://www.startengine.com/offering/ihealthscreen

Congrats to Alauddin Bhuiyan and all of the team at iHealthScreen Inc

Eyes On. Myopia

A huge topic of conversation and innovation every month is Myopia. In May, we had Myopia Awareness Week, running from 22-26th of the month.

The initiative from BVHI (Brien Holden Vision Institute) promoted the need to make myopia management essential for children across the world and advocated professionals and parents alike to 'Keep An Eye On Myopia'.

“At BHVI, we are thrilled to be able to bring together our sector during Myopia Awareness Week and work together on this global united effort.” - Rebecca Hodges, COO

Earlier in the month, with the support of CooperVision , an expert panel of paediatric eyecare specialists called for Childhood Myopia to be recognised and treated as a disease. The panel's views were published in a white paper alongside CooperVision 's "Make Children's Sight Your Fight" campaign.

“The resounding direction from this esteemed group affirms that treating myopia progression early and as close to onset is essential to lowering the risk for myopic pathology that may lead to permanent visual impairment,” said Michele Andrews, OD VP Professional & Government Affairs, Americas.

Eyes On. Lasers

I feel like I post about the work that Oliver Hvidt and Norlase are doing every month now, but here they are again...

After receiving FDA clearance and CE Mark for the ECHO pattern laser, Norlase announced that they have secured $11 million in funding to accelerate production which is much needed to meet the demands of the industry.

"The launch of ECHO in the USA and EU, combined with the growing demand for our LION laser indirect ophthalmoscope and LEAF single-spot laser, means we need to drastically expand our production and global market presence. We are excited about this challenge and thankful for the support of our investors.” said Oliver Hvidt .

If you haven't heard of these guys yet then definitely check them out.

Eyes On. Content

If there is one thing that I love, it's sharing Ophthalmic and Eyecare content (as well as finding you great candidates for your growing teams!)

This month I've been excited to connect with Linda Kelly and Samuel Verdin from the Eye News team to learn about their new Eye Views Summaries newsletter.

You may have heard, that earlier this year, the Eye News team launched the Eye Views podcast in collaboration with Professor Baljean Dhillon and 英国爱丁堡大学 to cover a range of conversations around seeing and sight loss.

The Eye Views newsletter goes one step further, giving you breakdowns, further insights and links to the people involved so that you can get even more out of their depth of knowledge.

If you haven't done so yet, then subscribe to the newsletter and listen to the first episode of the podcast here - Eye Views Summaries

If you were at the The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) meeting in Birmingham this month then you definitely will have seen Linda Kelly and Samuel Verdin 's passion for the industry so it's a no brainer to get yourself subscribed.

Company Spotlight: EyeYon Medical

Based out of Israel, EyeYon Medical are pioneering sight-saving innovation in the cornea space.

Led by Co-founders Nahum Ferera , Ofer Daphnah and Arie Marcovich , they have built an expert multidisciplinary team to drive the future standards of corneal treatments.

Their EndoArt corneal artificial layer is the first synthetic implant to treat corneal edema saving vision and restoring function by creating a new type of corneal availability.?EndoArt?attaches to the back of the corneal surface, preventing the transfer of fluids into the cornea and inhibiting the buildup of fluid that we know as edema.

Performed via small incisions, the procedure is minimally invasive, preventing further injury to fragile eye tissue and encouraging a high degree of implantation success.

The EndoArt is CE approved and the company are ramping up their presence across the European markets this year.

Eyecare Vacancies

I’m currently recruiting across the following areas:

• Senior Key Account Manager Retina - Germany
• Senior Key Account Manager Retina - France
• Clinical Research Manager - Germany
• VP Regulatory Affairs - Global
• VP Medical Affairs - Glaucoma Global
• Senior Software Technical Lead - Canada
• Field Services Engineer - UK & IRE
• Product Manager - Retina USA
• Regulatory Affairs Director - Surgical USA

Are you looking to add headcount to your team in 2023??Reach out now to set up an introductory call.

To stay up to date with news, announcements, and start-ups from the ophthalmology and eyecare markets, subscribe to the?Eyes On.?newsletter and follow?#CMOphthalmology