MONROVIA, Calif., Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- STAAR Surgical
Company (Nasdaq: STAA), a leading developer, manufacturer and
marketer of minimally invasive ophthalmic products, today announced
that it will be participating in the 88th Congress of
the Society of Spanish Ophthalmologists (88 Congresco de la
Sociedad Espanola de Oftalmologia, SEO) being held in Barcelona from September 26 to 29. Between 2,000 and 2,500
surgeons are expected to attend the conference. STAAR will
have a booth at SEO for the first time as in all previous meetings
the Company's Visian ICL technology has been in its distributor's
booth. The Company will be celebrating nearly 50,000
successful ICL implants in Spain
and highlighting the success of the Visian ICL with CentraFLOW
technology since its introduction in Spain.
STAAR also announced the initial structure of its sales team in
Spain. Alicia Ranz-Sanchez
has been appointed Country Manager of Spain. Since 2006 she has worked in
Spain serving as STAAR's Area
Sales Manager Europe South with added responsibility for Latin
America. She previously worked for various ophthalmic
distribution companies including STAAR's previous distributor
BLOSS. She holds a bachelor degree in Optometry. The Company
has also hired Gemma Manso as Area
Manager, Visian ICL Product Specialist in Spain. Ms. Manso
has been in various sales positions in the ophthalmic field since
1992 working for companies like Bausch & Lomb and Indo. From
2005 to 2007 she was responsible for sales and marketing in
Madrid's Refractive Clinic Real
Vision Clinic. She holds a bachelor degree in Optometry and Optics.
STAAR plans to add a second Visian ICL Product Specialist in
Spain during October.
"Alicia's experience and deep understanding of the Spanish
ophthalmology market should allow her to immediately contribute to
our growth and market share gains," said Hans Blickensdoerfer,
President of Europe, Middle East, and Africa. "Gemma's
addition to the team in Spain will
help us focus on deeper Visian ICL penetration into some of the key
larger refractive practices in the market. We are excited
about our prospects in Spain.
Going direct will allow us to establish significantly closer
relationships with Spanish ophthalmologists and consumers. We
currently have a 3% to 4% market share of total refractive
procedures in Spain and plan to
increase that to 10% over the next few years."
During the SEO Congress the focus with be on the nearly 7,000
successful implants of the new Visian ICL with the CentraFLOW
technology. This new technology allows for the elimination of
steps to improve aqueous flow, resulting in a more convenient
procedure for both the surgeon and patient. Additionally
Intraocular pressure (IOP) is more stable with Visian ICL
CentraFLOW technology. "Surgeons using the new technology are
reporting the improved flow from our AquaPORT™
enhances the vault of the ICL in the eye," commented Barry Caldwell, president and CEO of STAAR. "In
addition, we have heard from several surgeons that the new
technology is producing even more predictable visual results
compared with the already superior results they were seeing from
the V4 ICL. I look forward to meeting more Spanish
ophthalmologists during this meeting in Barcelona."
Scheduled activities at SEO include:
- Presentations from the podium on the Visian ICL
- An official course organized by the Spanish ICL Study
Group
- On Thursday evening STAAR will host a reception for key
refractive surgeons with presentations focused on STAAR's Visian
ICL. Key presenters include:
- Dr. Jose F. Alfonso presents a
summary of the one year clinical experience with the Visian ICL
CentraFLOW technology.
- Dr. Robert Montes-Mico will highlight the Visian ICL as the
Premium Refractive Procedure.
- Dr. Francesc Duch presents on
how to increase Visian ICL procedures and shares the highlights
from the Clinical Survey from the ICL Experts Meeting in
Milan.
- Dr. Daniel Elies discusses ten
years of excellence with the Visian Toric ICL.
In August, STAAR announced the transition from a distributor
model to a direct model in Spain. This resulted in a credit
against second quarter 2012 sales for the inventory the distributor
was holding at that time. The distributor will continue
to operate as STAAR's logistics partner in the Spanish market and
will hold STAAR's inventory in the market, take orders and ship
product to customers. For the second half of this year, if
the Visian ICL unit shipments are flat as compared to the same
period in 2011, the STAAR revenues from Spain to be approximately double.
About STAAR Surgical
STAAR, which has been dedicated solely to ophthalmic
surgery for over 25 years, designs, develops, manufactures and
markets implantable lenses for the eye. All of these lenses
are foldable, which permits the surgeon to insert them through a
small incision. A lens used to replace the natural lens after
cataract surgery is called an intraocular lens or "IOL." A
lens used in refractive surgery as an alternative to LASIK is
called an Implantable Collamer® Lens or "ICL." Over 300,000
Visian ICLs have been implanted to date; to learn more about the
ICL go to: www.visianinfo.com. STAAR has approximately 300
full-time employees and markets lenses in approximately 60
countries. Headquartered in Monrovia, CA, it manufactures in the following
locations: Nidau, Switzerland;
Ichikawa City, Japan; Aliso Viejo, CA; and Monrovia, CA. For more information,
please visit the Company's website at www.staar.com or call
626-303-7902.
Collamer® is the registered trademark for STAAR's proprietary
biocompatible collagen copolymer lens material.
Safe Harbor
All statements in this press release that are not
statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements.
These statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of
the date of this press release, which may prove inaccurate and are
subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause
actual results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties include,
among other things, the following: the effect of global economic
conditions on sales, especially sales of products like the ICL used
in non-reimbursed elective procedures; our limited resources to
promote new products; the risk that product launches may be
affected by unplanned delays or be less successful than we expect;
and government approval of our new products. STAAR assumes no
obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect
future events or actual outcomes and does not intend to do
so. Additional information concerning the above-referenced
risk factors and other risk factors can be found in STAAR's public
periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including the discussion under the heading "Risk Factors" in
STAAR's 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q.
CONTACT:
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Investors
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EVC Group
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EVC Group
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Jenifer Kirtland/Doug Sherk
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Christopher
Gale
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415-568-9349
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646-201-5431
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SOURCE STAAR Surgical Company