Bausch + Lomb Corp. and AcuFocus announced today that a Bausch + Lomb subsidiary has purchased AcuFocus in a merger deal with AcuFocus’ parent firm.
The terms of the transaction for AcuFocus, a privately held ophthalmic medical device company, were not disclosed.
According to a press release, AcuFocus has delivered small aperture intraocular technology to address a variety of 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 up to 1.5 diopters of corneal astigmatism and wish to address presbyopia at the same time.
This IOL, known as the IC-8 IOL in worldwide markets, is accessible in select markets throughout Europe, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
With cataracts impacting over 90 million people worldwide and the premium cataract IOL market predicted to rise by 13% by 2027, the deal appeared appealing. Furthermore, an estimated 24 million people in the United States alone have cataracts, a figure that is anticipated to rise to 50 million by 2050.
The IC-8 Apthera IOL, according to the company, is a wavefront-filtering intraocular lens for unilateral implantation in patients with bilateral operable cataracts, as much as 1.5 diopters of corneal astigmatism in the implanted eye, no history of retinal disease, and are not predisposed to experience retinal disease in the future. When compared to a monofocal or monofocal toric IOL, this IOL delivers a wider range of vision from afar to near. According to Joseph C. Papa, CEO of Bausch + Lomb, cataracts are the leading cause of global blindness in persons aged 50 and older, accounting for more than 15 million people, or roughly 45 percent of the more than 33 million instances of global blindness.
