News from Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Alcon, Bausch + Lomb, Compulink, CooperVision, Global Specialty Contact Lens Committee, Heru, Icare, and more
Practice Tip: Most thyroid eye disease (TED) patients are females between the ages of 40 to 44 and 60 to 65, and men between the ages of 45 to 49 and 65 to 69, writes Marie Huegel, OD, in her March column, “Thyroid Eye Disease.” She adds, “Females are affected more often… and there is a higher incidence among Pacific Island/Asian and Black individuals. Other risk factors are family history of thyroid disorders or TED, smoking or cigarette exposure, presence of thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibodies (TSHR) or TSI, and radioactive iodine therapy.” For additional information regarding TED, visit https://bit.ly/3tHjAGl.
Aerie Pharmaceuticals Appoints Chief Financial Officer
Aerie Pharmaceuticals named Peter F. Lang as chief financial officer. He will report to CEO Raj Kannan. Mr. Lang held leadership roles at global and boutique investment banks and has a long track record of working with management teams and boards to optimize companies’ growth plans, capital structures, and return on capital, according to a company press release.
Alcon's SYSTANE COMPLETE Preservative-Free Now Available in the United States
Alcon announced that SYSTANE COMPLETE Preservative-Free lubricant eye drops are now available in the United States in a multi-dose bottle. The easy-to-use bottle features nano-droplet technology and a closing tip system that uses PureFlow technology, according to Alcon.
Bausch + Lomb and Clearside Biomedical Launch Macular Edema Drug Xipere
Bausch + Lomb and Clearside Biomedical launched of Xipere, an FDA-approved treatment for macular edema associated with uveitis. Xipere (triamcinolone acetonide injectable suspension) is delivered via suprachoroidal injection with Clearside’s proprietary SCS Microinjector. Upon injection, the suprachoroidal space expands to allow access to the back of the eye. Check your state’s scope of practice to see whether you can administer Xipere.
Champion of Scleral Lenses Passes
Rients Visser Sr., a champion of scleral lenses, passed away just days after his 80th birthday in his hometown of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. He is the recipient of several awards, including one from the Optometristen Vereniging Nederland (OVN) and the Global Specialty Lens Symposium Award of Excellence in 2015. Eef van der Worp, BSc, PhD, says Mr. Visser was one of the few in the contact lens community who, about 40 years ago, kept believing in scleral lenses, despite the criticism, and was also, perhaps, one of the first who recognized the opportunities in using toric back-surface scleral lenses.
Compulink and Promptly Partner to Provide Mobile Patient Engagement Tools
Compulink and Promptly launched a suite of mobile-friendly patient engagement tools for Compulink’s Advantage SMART Practice EHR solution. Features include smart online scheduling; automated waitlist; patient kiosk; mobile check-in; text-to-pay; patient cost estimator; and a fully automated vision insurance eligibility, according to the companies. The EHR is 2015 ONC Certified for MIPS.
CooperVision Announces Best Practices Honorees and Scholarship Recipients
CooperVision named its 2022 Best Practices honorees and student scholarship awardees. This year’s honorees were chosen based on their efforts across five key categories: industry advancement, community impact, patient experience, specialty services, and team building. Beginning in 2022, CooperVision added a Best Practices Award of Excellence to the program, which recognizes practices that demonstrated exceptional potential in their submissions. For more information on the program, visit coopervision.com/practitioner/best-practices.
Eyefinity Offers $1,500 Off Practice Management and EHR Solutions
Eyefininty is offering practices that participate in the VSP Global Premier Program up to $1,500 off on onboarding fees — for up to three doctors — for any new subscription to Eyefinity Practice Management and/or Eyefinity EHR platforms. The deal runs through Dec. 31, 2022. The Premier Program offers members benefits including the ability to pull multiple patient eligibilities and authorizations at one time, an optimized check-out experience, and a dedicated support team.
Global Specialty Contact Lens Committee Seeks CE
The Global Specialty Contact Lens Committee is looking for one-hour CE breakout sessions and two-hour CE workshops for consideration for its next meeting in 2023. The meeting will occur in Las Vegas from Jan. 18 to Jan. 21. The CE submission window closes 5:00 p.m. EDT, April 15, 2022. Submit at https://na.eventscloud.com/website/35541/call-for-ce-courses/.
Heru Platform Examines 10,000 Patient Eyes
Heru Inc. says it reached a clinical milestone of 10,000 patient eyes screened with its wearable AR/VR headset since the commercial launch of the cloud-based technology in Aug. 2021. The company’s platform delivers real-time vision diagnoses using suprathreshold and full-threshold VFs, contrast sensitivity testing, color vision screening (both Ishihara and the Farnsworth D-15 extended color vision test), and dark adaptation. Additionally, the platform is supported with five reimbursable CPT medical billing codes. Visit www.seeheru.com.
Icare USA Introduces Self-Tonometer
Icare USA, Inc. announced the 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the company’s next generation self-tonometer, the iCare HOME2. The device allows IOP measurements to be taken, while the patient is supine, reclined, and sitting, outside normal clinic hours, and delivers them to iCare CLINIC. This is a cloud-based software that stores the IOP data and provides reports to health care professionals. Visit www.icare-world.com/us/product/icare-home2.
International Agency to Prevent Blindness Partners with CooperVision on Initiative
The International Agency to Prevent Blindness (IAPB) joined forces with CooperVision for the ‘Focus on Child Health’ initiative. The initiative will take an in-depth look at Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education), and IAPB’s school eye health working groups will be highlighting their progress and raising the issues of child eye health with decision makers to push for sight tests and school vision screenings for children globally.
NextGen Healthcare and Brush Creek Partners to Host Cybersecurity Webinar
NextGen Healthcare and Brush Creek Partners will host a cybersecurity webinar tonight to help eye care practices understand the financial ramifications of cyber-attacks. Topics will include how to assess security risk management; the importance of creating an incident response plan; training and education tips for staff; and the financial risks created from cyber-attacks.
Ocuco Unveils Company Rebrand
Optical software company Ocuco, which provides management systems for labs, independent practices and chains, announced the company’s rebrand to a more contemporary, refined version of its original brand. According to a company press release, the rebrand reflects the company’s move from providing solely single solution applications to also providing omnichannel native systems. For example, this year the company will launch Acuitas 3 OmniChannel Edition, which will provide an omnichannel platform with both in-store and consumer-facing facilities, according to Ocuco CEO Leo Mac Canna.
Ocuphire Announces Positive Topline Results from Phase 3 Nyxol Trial
Ocuphire Pharma, Inc. announced that its the MIRA-3 Phase 3 trial investigating the company’s product Nyxol for the reversal of pharmacologically induced mydriasis (dilation of pupil) met its primary endpoint with 58% of subjects (study eye) treated with Nyxol returning to ≤ 0.2 mm of their baseline pupil diameter at 90 minutes vs. 6% of subjects (study eye) treated with placebo (p <0.0001). Additionally, the effect was significant at 60 minutes (Nyxol 42% vs. placebo 2%, p <0.0001). MIRA-3 enrolled 368 subjects from November 2021 to February 2022 at 16 sites in the U.S.
Oplee Travel Contact Lens Case Available through Amazon Launchpad
Oplee announced that its patented Travel Contact Lens Case product is now part of the Amazon Launchpad program. Amazon Launchpad provides tools and resources to help startups and entrepreneurs show their products to Amazon customers. The Oplee Travel Contact Lens Case is designed to work with standard travel-sized contact solution bottles. To learn more about the product, visit www.opleekit.com.
Optometric Management and Marco Ophthalmic to Offer Free CE Webinar
Optometric Management, with the support of Marco Ophthalmic, is offering a complementary CE webinar, approved for one hour of interactive distance learning. The webinar “Treatment of Inflammatory Eyelid Disease with Photobiomodulation Therapy” is scheduled for Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Instructor Samantha Hornberger, OD will discuss topics cell metabolism and the mitochondrial respiratory chain; biochemical mechanisms of action for energy-based treatment; biological effects of light-based therapy; and case reports and treatment protocols.
Reichert Technologies/Ametek Offer Multi-Language Options on Website
Reichert Technologies launched versions of its website in Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Site visitors will be able to select their language preference. Visit www.reichert.com.
SightGlass Vision Names CEO; Additional Executive Leaders
SightGlass Vision appointed Andrew Sedgwick as its CEO, François Bloquiau chief financial officer (CFO), and Balthazar Masurel as vice president of Strategic Marketing. Mr. Sedgwick was senior vice president, Commercial Strategy for CooperVision; Mr. Bloquiau served as CFO of EssilorLuxottica Brazil, and Mr. Masurel led the global myopia control and presbyopia category marketing for Essilor.
The Vision Council to Provide Monthly Social Media Content Calendars
Vision Expo organizers The Vision Council and RX announced that a free, virtual version of Vision Expo East will be delivered through the global sourcing platform ShopVISION from April 1 to April 8. The platform’s virtual experiences will include online showrooms from Vision Expo East’s more than 360 exhibitors and recorded content from events taking place at The Bridge, the main stage destination for collaborative learning, including EYE2EYE Series discussions. For registration, visit shopvision.balluun.com/en-us/home/anonymous. In other news, The Vision Council added a new member benefit — downloadable monthly social media calendars for consumer-facing marketing.
O.D. Notebook is published weekly on Wednesdays. Unless otherwise noted, the information presented is based on press releases and/or announcements by the respective organizations. Find earlier editions here. To submit a press release to be considered for publication, click here. Additionally, find frequently updated COVID-19 coverage here.