STAAR Surgical Company (Nasdaq: STAA), the leading worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of phakic intraocular lenses, today announced that the Visian Implantable Collamer® Lens (ICL) was featured prominently in more than 40 presentations by leading ophthalmologists at meetings prior to and during the 2010 Congress of European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) held in Paris, France from September 4 through 8, 2010. The presentations, based on studies conducted by surgeons throughout the world, confirmed that the Visian ICL offers superior visual results over a wide range of myopic and hyperopic refractive errors including those within the most popular LASIK areas of treatment. These presentations also confirmed the safety and efficacy of the Visian ICL over a period of 17 years.
The 7th Annual Visian ICL Expert Meeting, sponsored by STAAR, was held prior to the conference with 100 surgeons from 34 countries in attendance. There were 26 presentations and eight specialized breakout sessions on ICL topics over a two-day period. During the opening presentation Hans Blickensdoerfer, President of STAAR Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, demonstrated the growth in Visian ICL procedures by comparing the rate of ICL implants per minute. In 2008, worldwide, a Visian ICL was implanted every 20 minutes; that rate has doubled in 2010 to one implant every 10 minutes.
"This was our seventh annual meeting of this type and I believe it was the best," commented Mr. Blickensdoerfer. "We continue to see strong growth in the Visian ICL throughout the world and believe that the newly expanded Visian ICL diopter ranges launched here at ESCRS more than doubles the market opportunity for Visian and allow us to compete directly within the most popular myopic and hyperopic ranges of treatment with LASIK. Key presentations during the meeting demonstrated that though the Visian ICL has very good results in the higher refractive areas, it can have even better visual results in the lower ranges of refractive procedures where LASIK is most popular currently."
During the formal free paper presentation sessions at the ESCRS meeting there were 17 papers on the Visian ICL, 14 scientific posters and two courses. All of these continued to reinforce the Visian ICL technology as a safe and effective option for addressing a wide range of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism.
Some of the highlights during presentations at the Visian ICL Expert's Meeting and the ESCRS included: