�         Survey shows misunderstanding. Two polls commissioned by Vision Council of America (VCA) surveyed a total of 2,045 American adults. In the first poll, 9% reported having had elective eye surgery to correct or improve their vision. Of these, 79% said they underwent LASIK surgery.
Interestingly, the percentage of people who said they had elective laser eye surgery dropped drastically to 2.7% when the question was rephrased in the second survey. And, some of those who answered in the second survey that they had undergone LASIK or PRK couldn't clearly explain what eye condition the surgery had corrected.
The study determined that 20% of all adult Americans said they are to some degree considering elective laser eye surgery. The most commonly cited concerns about the surgery are potential for eye damage, cost and lack of insurance coverage.

�         CIBA investment. CIBA Vision, the eyecare unit of Novartis, announced that it has made an equity investment in Irvine, California-based Medennium, Inc., giving CIBA exclusive worldwide rights to market and distribute Medennium's Phakic Refractive Lens (PRL). The initial investment represents 10% equity in the company, with an option to acquire a larger holding at a later date.

�         Consumer vision Web site meets visitor milestone prematurely. AllAboutVision.com recorded its 500,000th visitor the first week of August, achieving a goal originally projected for the end of this year. Currently, AllAboutVision.com has logged more than 18 million hits. LASIK, contact lenses, eyeglass frames and computer vision syndrome are the site's most popular topics. The Web site presently serves about 22,000 visitors per week.

�         Lenses approved for market in Japan. Wesley Jessen VisionCare, Inc. has received approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare to market its FreshLook Colors disposable lenses. The company intends to begin selling both clear (with handling tint) and FreshLook Colors disposable lenses in Japan late in the third quarter.
Wesley Jessen plans an extensive consumer advertising campaign for FreshLook Colors once it has achieved broad distribution in Japan. The lenses will be distributed by the company's Japanese subsidiary.

�         VISX receives FDA panel approval. The FDA Ophthalmic Devices Panel unanimously recommended approval with conditions for VISX, Incorporated's VISX STAR Excimer Laser System for the treatment of hyperopic astigmatism.

�         IOL approved for use in cataract surgery. Staar Surgical Co. has received FDA approval for its new Collamer intraocular lens (IOL) used in cataract surgery. FDA approval was granted based upon data from a clinical study. A total of 686 lenses were implanted as part of the study concluded in 1998. The study was conducted under an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) granted by the FDA in 1996. The Collamer material is also used for Staar's Implantable Contact Lens (ICL), of which more than 14,000 have been implanted worldwide during the last 5 years.

�         E-Dr. appoints president. E-Dr. Network recently named its chief operating officer, Scott Schoenherr, to the position of president. Schoenherr will continue to serve as COO.

�         Vision care company announces revised Web site. Specialty UltraVision's new, updated Web site, www.ultravision.com, contains expanded information and several useful features for eyecare practitioners. New features include: online ordering, new product information, expanded useful links section and introductory educational material for patients.
Practices can benefit from online product ordering once they establish an account with the company. You can also sign up for an e-mail messaging system to alert you about new products and promotions from Specialty UltraVision.

�         Consumer branding campaign launched. This past March, Essilor of America, Inc. launched its multi-million dollar 2000 Varilux consumer branding campaign to increase awareness of Varilux progressive lenses and reinforce the need for presbyopes to visit their eyecare practitioners on a regular basis. The consumer branding campaign targets adults over the age of 40 and utilizes national television and Internet advertisements as well as the www.varilux.com consumer Web site.

�         Inoveon featured on new T.V. series. Inoveon Corp., in which Wesley Jessen is a leading investor with exclusive marketing rights for Inoveon's diabetic retinopathy management system, is one of six companies featured in "E-Life," a new television series airing on CNN internationally and in the United States.
Hewlett-Packard, the program sponsor, selected Inoveon on the basis of its distinctive e-health Internet application 3DT (Digital Disease Detection and Tracking) service. The company was selected from a field of more than 100 other Internet-centered innovations.

�         VCA membership news. Vision Council of America (VCA) has announced that Abby Ayoub, optician, Richard D. Creed, O.D., and Susan J. Taub, M.D., F.A.C.S., have joined the Better Vision Institute Advisory Council for terms through 2003.
VCA also recently announced that it has increased its ranks offFull and associate members by nearly 20% since International Vision Expo East 2000.

�         Conditional FDA approval for noninvasive glaucoma treatment. Coronado Industries Inc. has received conditional FDA approval of the protocol for what is expected to be its last study of its pneumatic trabeculoplasty (PNT) for glaucoma, reported the company.
The PNT treatment is designed to treat the two most common types of glaucoma -- open-angle and pigmentary. It consists of a suction device applied to the eye for 2 minutes to reduce intraocular pressure non-invasively.
According to a company statement, "a few conditions" (described as common procedural steps) need to be met before the company can start. The product launch is expected to occur within 9 months of the launch of the final PNT study.

�         Bushnell acquires Serengeti. Bushnell Performance Optics, a privately held company funded by a private equity investment firm, has acquired Serengeti Eyewear, Inc. The total value of the transaction, including assumed debt, was approximately $47 million.
Bushnell made its last two recent acquisitions (Boll� and Moonlight Products) during the first quarter of this year.

�         Partnership for anti-infective products broadened. Allergan Inc. and Xoma Ltd. are broadening their partnership to develop ophthalmic anti-infective products. Allergan has had an exclusive license with Xoma since June 1999 to develop ophthalmic anti-infective products that combine recombinant bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (rBPI) with antibiotics to treat bacterial eye infections. The expanded collaboration will cover all ophthalmic anti-infective formulations, including "stand-alone" formulations of rBPI, for eye infections caused by all microbes.

�         Exclusive distribution agreement for microkeratome. Allergan has entered into an exclusive, multi-year distribution agreement with Surgical Instrument Systems AG (SIS) Biel, Switzerland. Under the terms of the agreement, Allergan maintains the right to commercialize the Amadeus microkeratome in both North America and Latin America. SIS will be responsible for the manufacture and supply of the Amadeus microkeratome, a U.S. FDA approved device.

�         Successful integration. EyeVantage.com, a subsidiary of TLC Laser Eye Centers Inc., has successfully integrated its Infocus practice management software product in 100 optometry practices.
Infocus is a desktop solution designed to improve staff efficiency as well as overall practice performance and profitability. Infocus also facilitates e-commerce transactions without the need to re-enter already tracked data into a Web page.

�         KeraVision begins consumer ad campaign. Keravision plans to spend up to $5 million to target risk-averse mild myopes who are interested in vision correction but are apprehensive about nonreversible laser surgery. The campaign is "The Power to Change Your Vision, the Freedom to Change Your Mind."
In June, the company launched a consumer Web site to educate consumers about Intacs, and to direct them to eye doctors in their area.