SYLMAR, California,
November 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYES) ("Second
Sight"), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable
visual prosthetics that provide a form of useful vision to blind
patients, today announced that the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its Medicare hospital outpatient
payment rate of $150,000.50 for
calendar year 2017. The payment for the surgical procedure includes
the cost of the Argus® II Retinal Prosthesis System ("Argus
II").
In addition, the Company announced that the American Medical
Association (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®)
Editorial Panel approved two new Category III CPT codes for initial
programming and subsequent reprogramming of the Argus II.
These CPT codes will be used by clinicians to report and bill
for custom programming and reprogramming the Argus II to meet the
unique needs of each patient. With the addition of these two new
CPT codes for post-operative programming and reprogramming
services, clinicians will be able to report and bill all services
relating to implantation and programming the Argus II. The
new CPT codes will be published on January
1, 2017 and can be reported by clinicians beginning on
July 1, 2017. Previously, the Company
obtained a Category III CPT code for the implantation
procedure.
"We are very pleased that we have had the support of the
American Academy of Ophthalmology in achieving these important
milestones in our reimbursement strategy. With the AMA CPT
Editorial Panel's approval of the two new CPT codes, the billing
process is simplified. Our clinicians will be able to simply report
one of these new codes to bill for custom programming and
reprogramming the Argus II after implantation. In addition, with
CMS' announcement of the 2017 hospital outpatient payment rate, the
hospitals will be more appropriately reimbursed for providing this
important service to blind RP patients," said Will McGuire,
President and CEO of Second Sight.
About the Argus® II Retinal Prosthesis System
Second Sight's Argus II System provides electrical stimulation
that bypasses the defunct retinal cells and stimulates remaining
viable cells inducing visual perception in individuals with severe
to profound retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The Argus II works by
converting images captured by a miniature video camera mounted on
the patient's glasses into a series of small electrical pulses,
which are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes
implanted on the surface of the retina. These pulses are intended
to stimulate the retina's remaining cells, resulting in the
perception of patterns of light in the brain. The patient then
learns to interpret these visual patterns, thereby regaining some
useful vision. The system is controlled by software and is
upgradeable, which may provide improved performance as new
algorithms are developed and tested. The Argus II is the first
artificial retina to receive widespread approval, and is offered at
approved centers in Austria,
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Saudi
Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United
Kingdom and the United
States.
About Second Sight
Second Sight's mission is to develop, manufacture and market
innovative implantable visual prosthetics to enable blind
individuals to achieve greater independence. Second Sight has
developed and now manufactures and markets the Argus® II Retinal
Prosthesis System. Enrollment has been completed in a feasibility
trial to test the safety and utility of the Argus II in individuals
with Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Second Sight is also
developing the Orion™ I Visual Cortical Prosthesis to restore
some vision to individuals who are blind due to causes other than
preventable or treatable conditions. U.S. Headquarters
are in Sylmar, California,
and European Headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. For
more information, visit http://www.secondsight.com.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange and Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the
"safe harbor" created by those sections. All statements in this
release that are not based on historical fact are "forward looking
statements." These statements may be identified by words such as
"estimates," "anticipates," "projects," "plans," or "planned,"
"seeks," "may," "will," "expects," "intends," "believes," "should,"
"potentially," "objectives," and similar expressions or the
negative versions thereof and which also may be identified by their
context. While management has based any forward looking statements
included in this release on its current expectations, the
information on which such expectations were based may change.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties
which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in
the forward-looking statements, as a result of various factors
including those risks and uncertainties described in the Risk
Factors and in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations sections of the Company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed on March 11, 2016, as
amended on August 8, 2016, and the
Company's other reports filed from time to time with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. We urge you to
consider those risks and uncertainties in evaluating the Company's
forward-looking statements. We caution readers not to place undue
reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only
as of the date made. Except as otherwise required by the federal
securities laws, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to
publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking
statement contained herein (or elsewhere) to reflect any change in
the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any change in
events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is
based.
For Second Sight:
Institutional Investors
In-Site Communications, Inc.
Lisa Wilson, +1-212-452-2793
President
lwilson@insitecony.com
or
Individual Investors
MZ North America
Greg Falesnik, +1-949-385-6449
Senior Vice President
greg.falesnik@mzgroup.us
Media
Pascale Communications, LLC
Allison Potter Howell,
+1-412-228-1678
Manager of Professional Relations
allison@pascalecommunications.com