News

Basel, Switzerland—Novartis will work with Senju Pharmaceutical Co. to develop and commercialize a topical treatment for glaucoma.

Irvine, CA—The Federal Aviation Administration is allowing pilots to have the conductive keratoplasty (NearVision CK, Refractec Inc.) treatment to reduce their dependence on glasses.

Paris—Fovea Pharmaceuticals SA, a biopharmaceutical company working to discover, develop, and commercialize drugs to treat retinal diseases, announced the closing of a $25 million equity financing round.

Marblehead, MA—A Western Australia-based drug developer will acquire Advanced Ocular Systems (AOS) in a $31 million all-stock deal.

Dallas—Cataract and refractive surgeon Jeffrey Whitman, MD, will serve as president-elect of the American College of Eye Surgeons (ACES) for a 2-year term.

Irvine, CA—Allergan Inc. has offered to acquire Inamed Corp. for $1.45 billion cash and 17.9 million shares of Allergan stock to create a global leader in medical aesthetics.

Melville, NY—OSI Pharmaceuticals has completed its $935 million acquisition of Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc. after reviewing recent data by Eyetech competitor Genentech Inc.

The Scoring Tool for Assessing Risk (STAR) is intended for use in patients with untreated ocular hypertension. It is a cardboard, slide rule-type device featuring two sliding bars (A and B) and three windows.

The promise of 2004, that new anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) be developed, came to fruition in 2005, much to the excitement of ophthalmologists. These emerging treatments for AMD took center stage this year and resulted in numerous ideas about the effect of the pharmaceutical advancements and their impact on other retinal diseases.

A newly developed glaucoma risk calculator will enhance the management of untreated ocular hypertension, said Robert N. Weinreb, MD, director, Hamilton Glaucoma Center, and distinguished professor of ophthalmology, University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

Montr?al—The benefits observed in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) after 1 year of treatment with pegaptanib sodium (Macugen, OSI/Eyetech Pharmaceuticals) continued into the second year of treatment with pegaptanib sodium and surpassed those outcomes achieved with 1 year of treatment followed by usual care and 2 years of usual care, according to Donald J. D'Amico, MD.

Toulouse, France—With lengthening follow-up, the posterior chamber implantable collamer lens (ICL) (STAAR Surgical) continues to be associated with encouraging results in the management of refractive amblyopia in children who have not had a response to conventional therapy with contact lenses or spectacles, said Laurence C. Lesueur, MD.

Phoenix—Children with traumatic cataract often achieve a good visual outcome after cataract removal and primary IOL implantation, said Richard L. Golub, MD.

Refractive IOLs, fine-tuning of excimer laser surgery, and shifts in the choices of refractive surgeries, among other developments, have all been highlighted as the primary advances in 2005.

Advances in techniques and technology for cataract surgery and IOL implantation have continued through the past year. Those innovations combined with changes in reimbursement have improved the practice setting, contributed to an overall air of increased optimism among ophthalmologists, and have made the contemporary era of cataract surgery more of a golden age than ever before, said I. Howard Fine, MD, reflecting on the state of cataract surgery as the year 2005 nears its end.

Beginning in 2006, ophthalmologists board-certified after July 1, 1992 will transition to new Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements set by the American Board of Ophthalmology (ABO), which stresses lifelong learning and ongoing improvement.

Houston—Filtering bleb encapsulation after trabeculectomy seems to respond well to tapering topical corticosteroids alone or in conjunction with IOP-lowering agents. Withdrawing steroids appeared beneficial for lowering the IOP compared with continuing the use of steroids to prevent inflammation, according to Sheila Bazzaz, MD.

Recently, a ranking of U.S. business schools was published by Forbes magazine. The top school, according to this ranking, was the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. The criterion used to determine the "best" school was a remarkable one: starting salary of recent graduates. This struck me as an interesting measure of the quality of an education.

Lisbon, Portugal—A deep lamellar keratoplasty (DLKP) procedure that exposes Descemet's membrane seems safe and effective to correct keratoconus, according to Mohamed Alaa El-Danasoury, MD, who reported his group's 1-year experience with the procedure.

New York—The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary (NYEEI) celebrated its 185th anniversary with the "Thanks for Giving" Ball and three award presentations.

Lake Forest, CA—IntraLens Vision Inc. has changed its name to ReVision Optics Inc. (RVO) to align with its strategy to enter the presbyopia market.

Chicago—Results of the 2005 International Society of Refractive Surgery (ISRS)/American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) survey highlight some interesting trends in refractive surgery across the United States, said Richard J. Duffey, MD, at the refractive subspecialty meeting sponsored by the ISRS/AAO.

Lisbon, Portugal—The use of fibrin glue seems to be effective and safe in total anterior lamellar keratoplasty (TALK), a procedure that completely exposes Descemet's membrane within the area of host corneal trephination. Thomas John, MD, explained the procedure, which involves the transplantation of donor cornea without Descemet's membrane and endothelium, at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons annual meeting.

Washington, DC—Physicians nationwide, including ophthalmologists, will endure a 4.4% reduction in reimbursements effective Jan. 1 in light of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) newly released 2006 Physician Fee Schedule.

Washington, DC—Two years after a Cleveland ophthalmologist began lobbying Congress to regulate cosmetic contact lenses as medical devices, the bill is on its way to the president's desk for a signature.

Long-term follow-up and a controlled trial of PRK with adjunctive mitomycin-C after PKP compared with LASIK after PKP for keratoconus are needed.

With surface ablation procedures becoming more common, surgeons have developed a combination therapy management approach including a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, a nonster-oidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and a steroid to prevent infection and reduce pain.

Los Angeles—Results from the Xibrom First Experience (XFE) trial show that the new twice-a-day nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) is being well received by cataract surgeons and their patients alike, said David F. Chang, MD.

Chicago—After topical administration, moxifloxacin 0.5% (Vigamox, Alcon Laboratories) penetrates better into the cornea than gatifloxacin 0.3% (Zymar, Allergan) to achieve significantly higher levels in the epithelium and stroma, reported Terry Kim, MD, at the annual meeting of the Ocular Microbiology and Immunology Group.

Chicago—Nepafenac ophthalmic suspension 0.1% (Nevanac, Alcon Laboratories) is a significant advance in the treatment of pain and inflammation associated with cataract surgery. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory prodrug offers well-tolerated, effective, target-specific therapy that may enhance patient compliance and quality of vision outcomes, said Robert P. Lehmann, MD, FACS, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.