Eyeworld Daily News

EW SHOW DAILY 18 ASCRS News Saturday, April 14, 2018 by Ellen Stodola EyeWorld Senior Staff Writer, and Liz Hillman EyeWorld Staff Writer the evolution of modern diagnostics and treatments. Representatives from Kala Phar- maceuticals (Waltham, Massachu- setts), Oyster Point Pharma (Princ- eton, New Jersey), Sight Sciences (Menlo Park, California), and Tear Film Innovations (San Diego) spoke during the session. Following the company pre- sentations, Dr. Holland conducted a panel discussion with Sumit "Sam" Garg, MD, Irvine, California, Preeya Gupta, MD, Durham, North Carolina, and John Sheppard, MD, Norfolk, Virginia. The panelists com- mented on new products to treat dry eye disease, and Dr. Holland asked specifically what they would like to see in the next 5 years. Dr. Gupta said that though osmolarity and MMP-9 testing is available, she would like to have a quantitative method for MMP-9. She added that a more rapid allergy test would be helpful. Additionally, Dr. Gupta said that there are several molecules referred to as biomarkers, and it would be helpful to harness/ assess these molecules with one tiny tear sample. In terms of what is still needed on the treatment side of dry eye disease, Dr. Garg said that what he wants is something affordable, with easy compliance and great efficacy. Asking patients to take drops or treatment multiple times a day just doesn't work, he added. Dr. Gupta said she would be in- terested in an implantable technolo- gy or something that doesn't require patient compliance. Dr. Sheppard said personalized medicine would be an important de- velopment, and he added that map- ping the patient's phenotype could help determine specific therapy. EW Editors' note: The speakers at OIS@ ASCRS have financial interests related to their respective companies. T he latest in ophthalmic innovation was high- lighted at the 2018 OIS@ ASCRS meeting. In its 18th meeting since starting in 2009—first partnering with ASCRS in 2012—OIS brings together players from all parts of the innovation cycle: inventors and entrepreneurs, clinicians, financial partners, and industry leaders. William Link, PhD, Versant Ventures (San Francisco)—co-chair of the OIS program along with Emmett Cunningham Jr., MD, PhD, Clarus Ventures (Boston and San Francisco), and Gilbert Kliman, MD, InterWest Partners (Menlo Park, California)—opened the meeting with a brief discussion on the inno- vation cycle and the current status of the financial markets as it pertains to healthcare and the ophthalmic space. He offered several pieces of advice for success in innovation, including putting emphasis on the character of the team, taking initiative, having good manners and integrity, building a trusting rela- tionship, hiring great people, and being a good communicator who often listens more than speaks. "As we think about innovation in ophthalmology, there is still im- mense unmet need," Dr. Link said, adding later that "innovation in the ophthalmology sector is sustaining and not losing momentum." A morning ophthalmology innovation showcase included presentations from representatives of AcuFocus (Irvine, California), PowerVision (Belmont, California), Cassini (The Hague, the Nether- lands), Allotex (Zurich, Switzerland, and Boston), Keranova (Saint Eti- enne, France), Perfect Lens (Irvine, California), iVeena Delivery Systems (Salt Lake City), LacriScience (Wash- ington, D.C.), BlephEx (Franklin, Tennessee), Refocus Group (Dallas), CorneaGen (previously SightLife Surgical, Seattle), Kedalion Thera- peutics (Menlo Park, California), and Panoptes Pharma (Vienna, Austria). 2018 Lifetime OIS Achievement Award OIS gave special recognition to David Karcher, outgoing executive director of ASCRS. Dr. Link, along with Tom Frinzi, Johnson & John- son Vision (Santa Ana, California), Jim Mazzo, Carl Zeiss Meditec (Jena, Germany), and Cal Roberts, MD, Bausch + Lomb (Bridgewater, New Jersey), shared personal and profes- sional stories of working with Mr. Karcher over the past 37 years. Dr. Link described Mr. Karcher's determination to start conducting the OIS meeting at ASCRS, Mr. Frinzi highlighted his leadership of ASCRS through ups and downs, Dr. Roberts described his great love for golf and the conversations they had on the course, and Mr. Mazzo discussed working with Mr. Karcher on the ASCRS Governing Board, as well as his friendship with the late Roger Steinert, MD. All also highlighted the contributions of Mr. Karcher's wife, Anne. Mr. Karcher thanked everyone for the honor and added that "if it wasn't for the corporate support that we got early on, and we continue to get, I wouldn't be sitting here." He described it as "37 years of a dream." He also added a thanks to his wife who, 37 years ago, manually in- putted 1,200 attendee and exhibitor badges on a typewriter. Spotlight on dry eye A late morning session focused on dry eye, with company presenta- tions and panel discussion. Edward Holland, MD, Cincinnati, presented background information on dry eye. He noted that contact lens use, modern technology, and ocular surgery may all be factors that con- tribute to dryness. Dry eye is one of the most common causes of dissat- isfaction in surgical patients, and patients often blame their symptoms on the surgeon. Dr. Holland said that there are about 324 million people in the U.S. population with dry eye, with about 19,000 ophthalmologists, which comes out to 17,000 patients per ophthalmologist. By 2025, he said the number of ophthalmologists is estimated to decrease to 17,000, so optometrists will be seeing more of these patients. Better ways to diag- nose and treat dry eye are needed, Dr. Holland said, before highlighting OIS@ASCRS honors David Karcher with achievement award Visit Quidel at Booth 809 quidel.com MMP-9 TEST Adenoviral conjunctivitis TEST Introducing Quidel's Innovative Eye Health Solutions Quidel_ACRS_2018_FCBannerAds.qxp_Layout 1 3/29/18 8:21 AM Page 4 Mr. Karcher, second from right, is presented with the Lifetime OIS Achievement Award by Mr. Frinzi, Dr. Roberts, Dr. Link, and Mr. Mazzo.

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