Bausch + Lomb affiliate to acquire AcuFocus

Terms for the deal for AcuFocus, a privately held ophthalmic medical device firm, were not revealed by the companies.

Bausch + Lomb Corp. and AcuFocus, Inc. today announced that an affiliate of Bausch + Lomb has acquired AcuFocus, pursuant to a merger transaction with the parent company of AcuFocus.

Terms for the deal for AcuFocus, a privately held ophthalmic medical device firm, were not revealed by the companies.

According to a news release, AcuFocus has delivered small aperture intraocular technology to address "the diverse unmet needs in eye care, including the IC-8 Apthera IOL," which was approved by the FDA in July as the first aperture non-toric extended depth of focus (EDOF) IOL for certain cataract patients who have as much as 1.5 diopters of corneal astigmatism and wish to address presbyopia at the same time.

Known as the IC-8 IOL in global markets, this IOL is available in select markets across Europe, as well as in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

With cataracts affecting more than 90 million people around the world and the premium cataract IOL. Market expected to grow by 13 percent by 2027,^1,2 the deal proved attractive. Moreover, in the United States alone, an estimated 24 million people have cataracts, a number that is expected to grow to 50 million by 2050.³

According to the company, the IC-8 Apthera IOL is a wavefront-filtering intraocular lens for unilateral implantation in patients who have been diagnosed with bilateral operable cataracts, have as much as 1.5 diopters of corneal astigmatism in the implanted eye and who do not have a history of retinal disease and are not predisposed to experience retinal disease in the future. This IOL, compared to a monofocal or monofocal toric IOL, provides an extended range of vision from distance through near.

Joseph C. Papa, CEO, Bausch + Lomb, pointed out in the news release that cataracts are the largest contributor to global blindness in adults aged 50 years and older, with more than 15 million individuals, or approximately 45 percent of the more than 33 million cases of global blindness.⁵

“We believe that the IC-8 Apthera EDOF IOL will bolster our surgical portfolio by enhancing our IOL offerings, which is a strategic area of focus for Bausch + Lomb,” Papa said in the news release. “We will continue to focus on areas of unmet medical need that we believe will help drive long-term growth in our core segments, and importantly, help us achieve our mission of helping people see better to live better.”

Al Waterhouse, president and CEO, AcuFocus, noted in the news release that Bausch + Lomb is a legacy name in eye care with a fully integrated portfolio of offerings in eye health.

“With its extensive development footprint and renowned commercial expertise, we believe Bausch + Lomb is best positioned to educate physicians about the IC-8 Apthera lens, and ultimately, ensure more cataract patients have access to this new IOL," he said in the release.

References

1. The World Health Organization: Blindness and Vision impairment. Retrieved Dec. 12, 2022.
2. Market Scope. 2022 IOL Market Report (April 2022).
3. National Eye Institute. NEI charts a clearer future for cataract prevention and treatment. Retrieved Dec. 12, 2022.
4. National Eye Institute. Cataracts. Retrieved Jan. 14, 2023.

5. Steinmetz, J. D., Bourne, R. R., Briant, P. S., Flaxman, S. R., Taylor, H. R., Jonas, J. B., ... & Morse, A. R. F. (2021). Causes of blindness and vision impairment in 2020 and trends over 30 years, and prevalence of avoidable blindness in relation to VISION 2020: the Right to Sight: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. The Lancet Global Health, 9(2), e144-e160. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30489-7