STAAR Surgical Announces Strategic Cooperation Agreement With the Smile Eyes Group in Germany and Austria
February 12 2019 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA), a leading developer,
manufacturer and marketer of implantable lenses and companion
delivery systems for the eye, today announced a Strategic
Cooperation Agreement with the Smile Eyes Group, an alliance of
more than 80 eye experts across 13 vision correction eye centers in
Germany and Austria. The agreement positions the EVO Visian ICL
family of lenses as a premium and primary refractive procedure for
patients suffering from nearsightedness (distance vision correction
needs). EVO is the latest version of STAAR Surgical Company’s
implantable collamer lens (ICL) that works with the patient’s
natural eye to correct vision and provide patients visual freedom
from spectacles and contact lenses. The central hole of the EVO
lens allows for the eye’s natural nourishing aqueous flow and a
single surgical procedure.
“We have only our patients’ eyes in mind at the Smile Eyes Group
so high medical and aesthetic standards are especially important to
me, as I consider the comfort and well-being of our patients,” said
Dr. Laszlo Kiraly, Founder and Medical Director of the Smile Eyes
Clinic in Leipzig, Germany. “I see the patient as diopter
independent and judge each by the cornea, and patient needs, not by
the diopter in terms of EVO Visian ICL excellence and safety. To me
there is no difference in the precise and excellent outcome with
EVO Visian ICL, whether I treat a low or high refractive error,”
concluded Dr. Kiraly.
“The EVO Visian ICL procedure is fascinating to me because of
its effectiveness and quality of vision only a few hours after
surgery. During the 10 years I have been performing ICL surgery, I
have seen happy EVO patients with outstanding results and the ICL
procedure has become a premium and primary solution for vision
correction within our treatment spectrum,” stated Dr. Martin
Bechmann, Founder of the Smile Eyes Group. “Over time, we have
learned the limitations of different refractive procedures, and we
have learned that the ICL family of lenses can treat nearly every
patient’s refractive error with stable and excellent results, no
matter if the patient is myopic, hyperopic – with or without
astigmatism. I am looking forward to our cooperation as an official
Strategic Cooperation Partner with STAAR Surgical, as I believe
that working with strong partners is a crucial element of practice
success today,” concluded Dr. Bechmann.
In 2016 STAAR Surgical Company announced the first Strategic
Cooperation Agreements with customers that now serves as the model
for how the Company conducts business. STAAR offers patient
education, surgeon training, and co-marketing support in exchange
for committed levels of growth and patient education by the clinic
and positioning of the ICL family of lenses as premium and
primary.
“Our new agreement with the Smile Eyes Group positions the EVO
Visian ICL™ intraocular family of lenses as a primary and premium
option for patients seeking visual freedom from glasses and contact
lenses,” said Caren Mason, President and CEO of STAAR Surgical
Company. “Surgeon owners Dr. Laszlo Kiraly and Dr. Martin Bechmann
have demonstrated a high level of excellence and dedication to our
ICL lenses. They are considered experts in the field of refractive
surgery and have each been awarded the EVO Visian ICL Award several
times including in 2018. Both surgeons have performed the ICL
procedure on physician colleagues who now speak as testament to
their visual freedom experiences to potential patients. Germany is
the fifth largest market for refractive vision correction
procedures in the world and represents an important market for
STAAR Surgical’s lenses. We look forward to working closely with
the Smile Eyes Group on patient education, marketing, and surgeon
training under this new strategic cooperation agreement.”
About STAAR Surgical
STAAR, which has been dedicated solely to ophthalmic surgery for
over 30 years, designs, develops, manufactures and markets
implantable lenses for the eye with companion delivery systems.
These lenses are intended to provide visual freedom for patients,
lessening or eliminating the reliance on glasses or contact lenses.
All of these lenses are foldable, which permits the surgeon to
insert them through a small incision. STAAR’s lens used in
refractive surgery is called an Implantable Collamer® Lens or
“ICL”, which includes the EVO Visian ICL™ product line. More than
900,000 Visian ICLs have been implanted to date. To learn more
about the ICL go to: www.discovericl.com. STAAR has approximately
400 full-time equivalent employees and markets lenses in over 75
countries. Headquartered in Monrovia, CA, the company operates
manufacturing facilities in Aliso Viejo, CA and Monrovia, CA. For
more information, please visit the Company’s website at
www.staar.com.
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Investors & MediaEVC GroupBrian Moore,
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