Regional EuroTimes
Date Posted 03/09/2009
Abbott Medical Optics to acquire accommodative IOL maker Visiogen for €280m
Just seven months after entering the ophthalmic market with its acquisition of AMO, global healthcare giant Abbott Laboratories has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Visiogen, Inc., maker of the Symphony accommodating IOL, for $400m, or about €280m, in cash. The deal is expected to close late this year pending regulatory approval.
The acquisition will give AMO a proven next-generation accommodating intraocular lens technology that will allow it to compete for a larger share of a global premium IOL market, said Jim Mazzo, Abbott senior vice-president and president of Abbott Medical Optics. The premium IOL segment is projected to grow from about six per cent of sales currently to about 20 per cent in five years at a value of about to €420m annually, according to analyst Marketscope.
The Symphony lens uses a dual optic system driven by ciliary muscle contraction that reportedly has achieved accommodation of up to nearly three dioptres. It has been commercially available in Europe since January, and is under review for FDA approval in the US with a decision expected mid-2010, Mr Mazzo said. About 1,200 Symphony lenses have been implanted to date.
Symphony will be offered alongside AMO’s existing presbyopia-correcting lenses, including Tecnis multifocal and ReZoom. In addition, AMO will continue developing accommodative lens technology licensed from Quest Vision in 2004, and expects to bring to market other products in the Visiogen pipeline, though Mr Mazzo declined to specify what those products might be. “We see the refractive IOL space as a big growth. There is huge unmet need, but the lenses must be matched to patients’ needs. If you want to dance in this space you need a lot of different shoes,” he said.
“This acquisition shows Abbott’s commitment to ophthalmology. We will continue to be aggressive through organic growth, development of products in the pipeline and through acquisition,” Mr Mazzo said.
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