MONROVIA, Calif., Aug 1, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ --

Philippe Subrin's brings diverse background holding varied senior manufacturing positions with major ophthalmic medical device companies

STAAR Surgical Company (Nasdaq: STAA) announced today that Philippe Subrin (39) has been named Plant Manager for STAAR Surgical AG, its wholly-owned subsidiary located in Nidau, Switzerland. The subsidiary manufactures the Company's Collamer Intraocular Lens (IOL), Implantable Contact Lens (ICL) and AquaFlow Glaucoma Device. Subrin will be responsible for overseeing operations and manufacturing for STAAR Surgical AG.

Subrin has held top level manufacturing positions at Bausch & Lomb and Domilens of France. After graduating from University of Morez in France in 1983 with a degree in optometry, he worked as a project manager for Domilens until 1995 when he received a degree in engineering with a focus in operational management from the University of Lyons, France. In 1995, he became manufacturing manager at Bausch & Lomb Lyons France facility, responsible for the company's intraocular lens (IOL) manufacturing line.

Most recently, Subrin was a production improvement expert at the Bausch & Lomb Clearwater, Florida facility for their 3-piece silicone IOL. In this position, he lead a cross functional team which doubled yields, cut the cycle time in half and reduced work in process for the lenses by two-thirds.

David Bailey, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Philippe Subrin has accomplished a great deal in his career as a senior level manager of manufacturing and operations for some of the best names in the ophthalmic industry. He has a strong background of successfully improving the performance of manufacturing operations and addressing many of the challenges we currently face as we grow and become profitable, introducing leading edge products made possible through our advance technology. I can't imagine a better candidate to oversee our Switzerland operation as we work to become a leader in visual implant technology."

Founded in 1982, STAAR Surgical Company develops, manufactures and globally distributes medical devices for use in refractive, cataract and glaucoma surgery. The Company's five product lines include silicone and Collamer(TM) foldable intraocular lenses and the Sonic WAVE(TM) phacoemulsification system, all of which are used during cataract surgery, the ICL(TM) (implantable contact lens) which is a refractive lens for the treatment of near- and far-sightedness and the AquaFlow(TM) Collagen Glaucoma Drainage Device. Regulatory approvals vary from market to market with all products except the Toric ICL(TM) available in Europe and all except the ICL(TM) in the United States.

For additional information, about STAAR Surgical, visit the Company's web site at http://www.STAAR.com or www.irbyctc.com . You may wish to contact David Bailey, President, STAAR Surgical, or John Bily, Chief Financial Officer, STAAR Surgical, at (626) 303-7902. To contact Bill Roberts, President, CTC, Inc., or Wayne Buckhout, CTC Inc., please call (937) 434-2700.

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SOURCE STAAR Surgical Company

CONTACT:          David Bailey, President, or John Bily, Chief Financial Officer
                  of STAAR Surgical, +1-626-303-7902; or Bill Roberts, President, or Wayne
                  Buckhout of CTC Inc., +1-937-434-2700

URL:              http://www.staar.com
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