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EW SHOW DAILY 7 T he second annual Ophthal- mology Innovation Summit (OIS) at the 2013 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress combined in- dustry, clinicians, and entrepreneurs to highlight innovations in anterior segment surgery. The half-day session featured talks on the impact of femtosecond lasers and intraoperative aberrome- try, as well as micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS). Co-chairman William J. Link, PhD, Versant Ventures, Menlo Park, Calif., gave a talk on the status and impact of innovation in the oph- thalmic world, and said a key criteria driving innovation is that technol- ogy has to be real and useful. "Acquisitions have been quiet. Venture capital is dwindling," he said, but the size and demographic of the market is "amazing." "Multiple venture firms care about ophthalmology and are in- vesting in the space," Mr. Link said. "Innovation is directed where it is rewarded." Another market being tracked carefully right now is dry eye, he added. "I think we'll see more innova- tion there," Mr. Link said. In the refractive space, Mr. Link predicted that corneal inlays will spur innovation as well. This is the first time that there is alignment in cataract, refractive and glaucoma spaces. "We've got rocket power now driving the field," Mr. Link said. "We have unprecedented innovations. When we do well, many people benefit." Jim Mazzo, AcuFocus (Irvine, Calif.), agreed. "Our industry has been built on a lot of people with great passion." In a session on femtosecond laser cataract surgery, Stephen Slade, MD, Houston, said the pre- mium channel is still growing, and he continues to be impressed with femtosecond technology. "This technology allows you to do things you can't do by hand," he said. He lauded the work of the FDA. "The FDA is more than available, very fast and genuinely willing to help," he said. WaveTec Vision (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), Dr. Slade, and Murthy Simhamb- hatla, PhD, Abbott Medical Optics (Santa Ana, Calif.). The panel was co-moderated by Jack Holladay, MD, and Mr. Mazzo. "In the end it's about better outcomes and marrying technology together for those better outcomes. We're just scratching the surface," Mr. Barr said. During the summit, ForSight Labs (San Francisco) was presented with the Innovators Award for their work developing the Argus Retinal Prosthesis. MIGS could cause paradigm shift in glaucoma treatment Micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) is opening up possibilities for more surgical options in less invasive ways, which could expand the market, altering the current treatment paradigm, physicians said at a symposium. "The whole treatment paradigm is changing to something that would be a single surgery for all in- tervention that might completely free patients from taking eye drops," said Gil Kliman, MD, Menlo Park, Calif. "But this is a new way of thinking about things, and it's going to take a while for the market to get this. We're just starting to get the message out that there's a whole new way to treat glaucoma." Dr. Kliman opened the "Spot- light on MIGS: Micro-invasive Glaucoma Surgery" symposium. MIGS could eventually become a multi-billion dollar market, Dr. Kliman said. "The numbers are very small now. We need to be looking forward to the next five or 10 years. This could be one of the largest categories in ophthalmic therapeutic ap- proaches," he said. The MIGS session featured Iqbal "Ike" K. Ahmed, MD, Toronto, discussing his work in numerous new devices in Canada, and Kerry D. Solomon, MD, Charleston, S.C., discussing glaucoma surgery for the refractive, cataract, or general oph- thalmologist. In a panel discussion following the presentations, company repre- sentatives gave overviews of their MIGS devices. They included Thomas Burns, president and CEO, director, Glaukos (Laguna Hills, Calif.); Ron Bache, president and CEO, AqueSys (Irvine, Calif.); Dave Van Meter, president and CEO, Ivantis (Irvine, Calif.); and Brian Walsh, president and CEO, Tran- scend Medical (Menlo Park, Calif.). Only Glaukos' iStent Trabecular Micro-Bypass Stent is available for use in the U.S.; the other companies' devices are in various stages of de- velopment. "It's an extraordinary effort that's under way to try and totally revamp glaucoma treatment. Ike Ahmed said it right—it's disruptive technology, and we've needed it for a long time," said Thomas W. Samuelson, MD, St. Paul, Minn., who co-chaired the panel with Dr. Solomon. EW Editors' note: Dr. Slade has financial interests with Alcon. Dr. Thompson has no related financial interests. Dr. Ahmed has financial interests with AqueSys, Ivantis, Glaukos, and NeoMedix (Tustin, Calif.). Dr. Kliman is the managing director at InterWest Partners. Dr. Samuelson has financial interests with AqueSys, Glaukos, iScience, and Ivantis. Dr. Solomon has no financial interests related to this article. ASCRS SYMPOSIUM, SAN DIEGO 2011 by Erin L. Boyle EyeWorld Senior Staff Writer and Jena Passut EyeWorld editor OIS sets sights on anterior segment innovations Laser-assisted cataract surgery has had a "major, major impact on our practice," said Vance Thompson, MD, South Dakota. Shareef Mahdavi, SM2 Strategic (Pleasanton, Calif.), predicted that the femtosecond penetration rate would continue its upward trajec- tory. He surveyed users and found that more than 75% were able to break even or better. "Laser cataract surgery has pene- trated 2-3% of the U.S. market and is on the rise," he said. Both wavefront aberrometry and femtosecond lasers are doing well, Dr. Slade said. "Considering how disruptive they are to the cataract surgeons, I think they're tracking very nicely. The aberrometer makes them think about refractions again, and the [laser] is a large, expensive piece of equipment." The panel also discussed possi- ble future uses for femto phaco, in- cluding corneal applications and IOL designs. "This is an incredible tool, and as soon as you put it in the hands of innovators, there's no telling how far you can go," said OptiMedica (Sunnyvale, Calif.) president Mark Forchette, who was on a panel with Laurent Attias, Alcon (Fort Worth, Texas), John Barr, Bausch + Lomb (Rochester, N.Y.), Nick Curtis, LENSAR (Orlando, Fla.), Tom Frinzi, ASCRS•ASOA SYMPOSIUM & CONGRESS, SAN FRANCISCO 2013 OIS panelists discuss femtosecond and wavefront aberrometry innovations.

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