Former President and COO of Advanced Medical Optics Brings Significant
Industry Background to STAAR's Board
MONROVIA, Calif., June 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STAAR Surgical Company
(Nasdaq: STAA), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable lenses
and related ophthalmic products, today announced the unanimous appointment of
Richard (Randy) A. Meier (49), the former president and chief operating
officer of Advanced Medical Optics (AMO), to the Company's board of directors.
Mr. Meier's appointment expands the STAAR Surgical board to seven directors,
five of whom are independent.
Mr. Meier was the former president and chief operating officer of AMO, a
global leader in ophthalmic products including intraocular lenses (IOLs) and
laser vision correction with revenues of approximately $1.2 billion in 2008.
Mr. Meier served in that position until the company was acquired as a wholly
owned subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories in February of 2009. Mr. Meier joined
AMO in 2002 and subsequently held various executive positions at AMO,
including Chief Financial Officer, executive vice president of operations and
president of all three divisions: Refractive, Cataract and Eye Care.
"Randy Meier brings to our board significant ophthalmology business acumen
and he will provide our Company with considerable financial, strategic and
operational insights as we continue to pursue opportunities focused on
profitable growth," said Don M. Bailey, chairman of the STAAR Surgical Board
of Directors. "Beyond his experience in the ophthalmic industry, Randy has a
strong working knowledge of international markets as well as the capital
markets and a proven track record of improving shareholder value."
"During the past few years, I've observed STAAR Surgical's developments
and believe the company has recently made strong progress," Mr. Meier said.
"STAAR is a leader in the evolving refractive phakic lens market and has been
consistently improving its operating performance in a very difficult economic
environment. I believe the company is positioned to generate further progress
and I look forward to assisting the Company's drive to sustainable profitable
growth."
Prior to joining AMO, Mr. Meier was executive vice president and chief
financial officer of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (formerly ICN
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). Before joining Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Meier was
a senior vice president with the investment banking firm of Schroder & Co.
Inc. in New York from 1996 until joining Valeant Pharmaceuticals in 1998.
Prior to Mr. Meier's experience at Schroder & Co., he held various financial
and banking positions at Salomon Smith Barney, Manufacturers Hanover
Corporation, as well as other financial and management positions at other
firms. Mr. Meier currently serves as a Director at BioMarin Pharmaceutical
Inc. (Nasdaq: BMRN), a company which develops and commercializes innovative
biopharmaceuticals for serious diseases and medical conditions. BioMarin had
revenues of approximately $300 million in 2008. Mr. Meier is a graduate of
Princeton University with a Major in Economics.
About STAAR Surgical
STAAR Surgical is a leader in the development, manufacture and marketing
of minimally invasive ophthalmic products employing proprietary technologies.
STAAR's products are used by ophthalmic surgeons and include the Visian ICL, a
tiny, flexible lens implanted to correct refractive errors, as well as
innovative products designed to improve patient outcomes for cataracts and
glaucoma. Manufactured in Switzerland by STAAR, the ICL is approved by the
FDA for use in treating myopia, has received CE Marking and is sold in more
than 50 countries. Collamer(R) is the brand name for STAAR's proprietary
collagen copolymer lens material. More information is available at
www.staar.com.
Safe Harbor
All statements in this press release that are not statements of historical
fact are forward-looking statements, including statements about any of the
following: financial items; the plans, strategies, and objectives of
management for future operations or prospects for future success, statements
of belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing.
These statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of the date
of this press release and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties,
which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in
the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties include our
limited capital resources and limited access to financing, the fact that our
public accounting firm has expressed doubt about our ability to continue as a
going concern in their opinion on our financial statements, the need to defend
litigation and the risk of adverse judgment in pending litigation, the effect
the global recession may have on sales of products, especially products such
as the ICL used in non-reimbursed elective procedures, the challenge of
managing our foreign subsidiaries, the risk that sales of our newly introduced
products may not restore profitability to our U.S. IOL product line, our
ability to resolve FDA concerns over the clinical study for the Toric ICL and
to overcome negative publicity resulting from warning letters and other
correspondence from the FDA Office of Compliance, the willingness of surgeons
and patients to adopt a new product and procedure, and the potential effect of
recent negative publicity about LASIK on the demand for refractive surgery in
general in the U.S. STAAR assumes no obligation to update its forward-looking
statements to reflect future events or actual outcomes and does not intend to
do so.
CONTACT: Investors Media
EVC Group EVC Group
Douglas Sherk, 415-896-6820 Chris Gale 646-201-5431
Mike Pollock 415-896-6820
SOURCE STAAR Surgical Company
06/25/2009
STAAR Surgical Company
Web Site: http://www.staar.com
(STAA BMRN)
