Customised contact lenses for myopia control based on background intellectual property from the Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI) will be marketed and distributed by the UK contact lens company Contamac Ltd, following a multi-year agreement reached between the two organisations.
“This is an important step in making effective myopia control technologies available to reduce the rate of progress of myopia and the risk of permanent vision impairment associated with high levels of myopia later in life,” said Professor Brien Holden CEO of the BHVI.
“Myopic macular degeneration is now the leading cause of new blindness in some locations in Asia, and with the number of myopes estimated to reach 2.2 billion by 2020 and the number of high myopes increasing rapidly, there is an urgent need for better interventions.”
Beginning next month (May), Contamac “will begin to commercialise specialised contact lenses designed to reduce the rate of myopia progression in children by sub-licensing the Contamac designs to key strategic partners within its existing customer base throughout the world”.
The technology utilised from the Brien Holden Vision Institute includes both foreign and U.S. patents. In a press release Contamac stated that “a myopia control indication for use submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is to be completed in early 2017”.
