Highlights:

• COVID-19 home confinement of children is associated with up to 3X increase in prevalence of myopia in children 6 to 8 years old
• 18 months into the global COVID-19 Pandemic, VTI sees continued expansion of users, and provides benefits to eye care professionals
• NaturalVue® Multifocal lenses show great promise in helping curtail the current myopia epidemic
• Usage continues to grow as eye care practitioners see expanded benefits and positive patient retention results
• The NaturalVue® brand offers proven practice growth potential, even with the pandemic

ATLANTA, June 2 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- US-based medical device company and producer of the NaturalVue® (etafilcon A) Multifocal 1 Day Contact Lenses (‘NaturalVue MF’) Visioneering Technologies, Inc (ASX: VTI) (‘Visioneering’, ‘VTI’ or ‘the Company’) is pleased to provide an update on the impact of NaturalVue on practice dynamics and patients’ lives.

Since the company was founded in 2008, VTI continues to make an indelible impact on patients’ lives from age 7 to 70 by providing contact lenses with unmatched versatility. Together, revolutionary NaturalVue Multifocal and NaturalVue® Sphere contact lenses redefine vision—addressing adult myopia and hyperopia, paediatric myopia, accommodative issues in young adults, and the special needs of mature presbyopes.

The innovative NaturalVue® brand has proven to be a game-changer for patients, as well as a source of sustained business for ECPs (Eye Care Professionals)—even amid a global pandemic. Dr. Ronald L. Hoffman, OD, an optometrist in Huntington Station, New York, USA, can attest to the critical role of NaturalVue contact lenses. “Without a doubt, NaturalVue has helped to sustain my practice during the most challenging times. I am able to maintain a thriving contact lens practice in today’s competitive market because of the unique properties of NaturalVue contact lenses and the loyalty of NaturalVue patients.”

Giving 5 billion paediatric myopes a fighting chance

Paediatric myopia is nearsightedness in children. Myopic children cannot see distance clearly, and their vision typically worsens with age, exposing them to a lifetime of elevated risk of blindness and other serious ocular diseases. Up to 90% of children are myopic in some countries, and according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, home confinement during COVID-19 has caused up to a 3X increase in prevalence of myopia in young children in 2020 compared to the prior 5 years. It’s more important than ever to act urgently in the best interest of the youngest, most vulnerable patients. As a worldwide leader in myopia management, VTI provides practitioners with a powerful tool for controlling the worsening of myopia over time, while simultaneously correcting distance vision. Recently released data through 5 years (59 months) of use in children show exciting long-term reduction or inhibition of myopic progression in children wearing NaturalVue MF. Additionally, as a founding member of the Global Myopia Awareness Coalition (GMAC), VTI serves alongside the world’s largest eye care companies to continue to drive myopia management action among ECPs and parents.

Nick Dash, MCOptom, of Midland Eye Private Clinic of Birmingham, United Kingdom, was excited to hear that for the 153 children studied, 93% experienced a slowing of their myopia progression, with 65% experiencing a slowing greater than 70%.⁴ “These studies fully replicate the experience I am having in my practice in the UK. Our patient audits (including measuring myopia and axial eye length) endorse our current strategy of managing childhood myopia, using NaturalVue Multifocal as one of my go-to interventions.”

Dr. Tom Aller of San Bruno, CA, USA, and a highly regarded expert in paediatric myopia, commented, “VTI’s data in children to date is highly encouraging and supports usage of NaturalVue MF in the treatment of paediatric myopia. I’m also excited to see VTI initiate their randomized clinical trials as they continue to be at the forefront of the rapidly changing and expanding research on myopia.”

1.8 billion presbyopes need our help

Presbyopia is the age-related loss of near vision that affects almost everyone over the age of 45-50. With a swelling presbyopic population worldwide, more and more ECPs are focusing on this key demographic, one that is already in their exam chair. Nearly 71% of patients presenting in clinics today are age 37 or older.² While many of today’s multifocal contact lenses underperform for this important group, NaturalVue® Multifocal contact lenses uniquely enable practitioners to maintain—and build—their practices with presbyopic patients.

With its Neurofocus Optics® technology and its extended depth of focus design, practitioners report that NaturalVue contact lenses give new life to fitting presbyopes. Susan A. Resnick, OD FAAO, of New York, USA says, “Presbyopes grew up in contact lenses and have high expectations. With nearly 2 times the range of clear vision versus best-corrected spectacle acuity,³ I now have a lens that provides me with more opportunities to keep presbyopes in contact lenses and my practice.”

The Young, the Aging, and the In-between: ECPs report expanding usage of NaturalVue Multifocal

With today’s increase in digital device usage, digital eye strain is being experienced by patients of all ages, and NaturalVue MF contact lenses are increasingly being used to treat digital eye strain. This expansion of specialty usage is a high-growth area for ECPs, especially as they offer more specialized services to their community. Stephanie Lyons, OD, of Lyons Family Eye Care in Chicago, Illinois, USA says “I attribute a lot of the growth we’ve seen to specialty services including specialty contact lenses like NaturalVue, paediatric care, and vision therapy. Any specialty services in optometry can be an important source for revenue and avenue of distinction.”

Young patients with near-work eye strain, also called accommodative stress, and binocular issues may use bifocal eyeglasses or eyeglasses to reduce the eye strain from performing near tasks, but ECPs have found that NaturalVue Multifocal lenses can also reduce accommodative stress, with the advantages that come with contact lenses. Drs. Jennifer Dattolo and Amber Zaunbrecher presented a poster at a recent American Optometric Association meeting on the use of NaturalVue Multifocal contact lenses in helping patients with accommodative disorders. “Their acuity improves over time,” Dr. Dattolo says. “And NaturalVue MF enables better vision in the periphery than they can get with eyeglasses.”

Pandemic pearls: the ultimate pressure test proves value of NaturalVue Multifocal

Retaining patients throughout the pandemic shutdown was a monumental challenge for most ECPs. COVID-19 pushed more patients to online shopping, with 36% of patients no longer purchasing contact lenses from their ECP.⁴ Losing 200 patients could cost a practice ~$54,000 in product revenue, plus lost accessory and spectacle sales.⁶

Practices that utilized differentiated products, such as NaturalVue® Multifocal contact lenses, maintained a significant portion of their patients—even in the pandemic. In fact, during the height of the shutdown, NaturalVue Multifocal contact lenses had a retention rate of 91%,⁷ with a 92% re-purchase rate,⁸ which compares favorably to published annual retention rates for some other multifocal contact lenses.⁹

Redefining vision, lives, and the eye care industry

VTI is an innovative eye care company committed to redefining vision. The clinical results, the financial outcomes, and the expanding use of NaturalVue® products for a variety of vision care needs are a testament to the unique approach taken at VTI, where advanced engineering meets a relentless drive to achieve more.

“For children suffering from progressing myopia, the vast number of presbyopes who want to keep their natural vision and those in-between, VTI continues to advance science to improve the vision health and quality of life of patients worldwide,” said Dr. Stephen Snowdy, CEO, VTI. “Look for our latest innovations beginning in late 2021 and 2022, including an enhanced NaturalVue Multifocal and NaturalVue® Multifocal Toric lenses, which will allow practitioners to further expand to patients with astigmatism. VTI has revolutionized practices by offering innovations that help ECPs redefine what’s possible. And, together, the best is yet to come.”

About Visioneering Technologies Inc.

Visioneering Technologies Inc. (ASX: VTI) is a health care company making innovative vision care products available to patients and eye care professionals. Since its founding in 2008, Visioneering has brought together clinical, marketing, engineering, manufacturing, and regulatory leaders from the healthcare industry to provide new solutions for adults and children in need of vision correction.

Headquartered in the United States, Visioneering designs manufactures, sells, and distributes contact lenses around the world. Its flagship product, NaturalVue® Multifocal contact lenses, is prescribed in the large addressable markets of nearsighted children and over-45 adults, and VTI is expanding its portfolio of technologies to address a range of other vision care needs. Since its IPO in 2017, the company has grown operations across the US and recently launched its products in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, and Europe.

References:

1. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2021;139(3):293-300
2. DeLong, S. 2018 Mega Market Trends. Eyecare Business, January 2018: 70.
3. VTI data on file 2015. n=59. Data assessed after 1 week of wear; vs. other traditional (lenses with two focal points) studied.
4. Benoit, Douglas P., Dillehay, Sally M. New Clinical Evidence through 5 Years: NaturalVue Multifocal for Myopia Management. The Myopia Meeting, September 2020.
5. Nichols J. Contact Lenses 2020. Contact Lens Spectrum. January 2021:18-25.
6. Estimate derived from data from Nichols J. Contact Lenses 2020. Contact Lens Spectrum. January 2021:18-25 and are used for illustrative purposes only.
7. GfK US Contact Lens FITS Tracking, June 2020.
8. Data from established accounts after 12 months. VTI data on file, 2016.
9. Sully A, Young G, Hunt C. Factors in the success of new contact lens wearers. Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2017 Feb; 40:15-24.

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Contact

Stephen Snowdy, PhD
CEO, Visioneering Technologies, Inc.
E: ssnowdy@vtivision.com

Simon Hinsley, Investor & media relations
NWR Communications
M: +61 401 809 653
E: simon@nwrcommunications.com.au

Source : Visioneering Technologies Inc.

--BERNAMA