Abbott to acquire Visiogen for $400 million in cash

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced today a definitive agreement to acquire Visiogen, Inc. for $400 million in cash, providing the company with a next-generation accommodating intraocular lens (IOL) technology to address presbyopia for cataract patients.

Visiogen, a privately held company based in Irvine, Calif., with European operations in Karlsruhe, Germany, is an ophthalmic medical device company specializing in the development of new vision alternatives for patients with cataracts.

"This acquisition demonstrates Abbott's continued commitment to vision care and our desire to introduce and accelerate technologies that have the ability to make a difference in the lives of millions of people around the world," said John M. Capek, executive vice president, Medical Devices, Abbott. "Combining Visiogen's accommodating lens technology with Abbott's existing medical optics portfolio expands our ability to offer a diverse set of refractive options to our ophthalmic customers and the patients they serve."

"We are thrilled to join forces with Abbott to bring this much-anticipated technology to market," said Reza Zadno, founder, CEO and president of Visiogen, Inc. "The global clinical results with Synchrony(R) are extremely encouraging, and the opportunity to leverage Abbott Medical Optics' extensive commercialization infrastructure means that many more patients will benefit from this exciting advancement in cataract and presbyopia correction."

Visiogen's accommodating IOL, called Synchrony, is designed to deliver improved vision at all distances, potentially eliminating the need for glasses or contact lenses, reducing glare and nighttime halos, and improving contrast sensitivity.

Intraocular lenses are implanted in a patient's eye after the removal of the natural lens that has become clouded by a cataract. Conventional monofocal IOLs are designed to focus primarily at a distance and not to correct presbyopia, an age-related change in vision in which the eye's lens can no longer adjust its focal length to allow clear vision at different distances. A common symptom of presbyopia is blurry close-up vision. Presbyopia usually begins after the age of 40 and is estimated to affect more than 1 billion people worldwide.

Visiogen's Synchrony accommodating IOL is a significant advancement in artificial lens technology. The unique design of the Synchrony lens is designed to mimic the eye's natural capacity to change focus (accommodation), with the potential to deliver a full range of vision. Synchrony has been implanted in more than 1,200 eyes and has been the subject of extensive clinical studies both in the U.S. and internationally. Synchrony has received CE mark designation and has been available commercially in Europe since January 2009. It also is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"Visiogen's Synchrony lens allows Abbott Medical Optics to enter the growing accommodating IOL segment and enhances our premium IOL portfolio that includes the Tecnis(R) Multifocal lens," said Jim Mazzo, senior vice president, Abbott, and president, Abbott Medical Optics.

Abbott entered the vision care segment following its February 2009 acquisition of Advanced Medical Optics. Abbott Medical Optics offers a range of cataract, refractive and corneal products designed to meet the needs of patients who suffer from a wide range of vision disorders and seek greater freedom from the limitations of eyeglasses.