STAAR Surgical and Kobe Kanagawa Eye Clinic in Japan Announce Strategic Cooperation Agreement

2018-06-26
Press release

MONROVIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 26, 2018-- STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA), a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable lenses and companion delivery systems for the eye, and Kobe Kanagawa Eye Clinic with locations in Tokyo and Osaka, today announced they have entered into a multi-year Strategic Cooperation Agreement to provide STAAR's EVO Visian ICL™ lenses as a primary and premium option for patients seeking visual freedom from spectacles and contact lenses through refractive eye treatment.

"We are very excited that our clinic has become a strategic partner with STAAR Surgical Company and expect to introduce the ICL to many more patients," said Dr.

Junki Sawai, Chairman of Kobe Kanagawa Eye Clinic. "Our clinic has performed almost 500,000 refractive surgery procedures and has implanted the most ICL lenses in Japan for the past eight years in a row. As a result of this agreement we intend to broaden our promotion of the ICL as a solution that provides excellent visual results to our patients," concluded Dr. Sawai.

Caren Mason, President & CEO of STAAR, stated, "Kobe Kanagawa Eye Clinic is one of the largest refractive eye surgery providers in Japan, an increasingly important market for our ICL lenses, and we are thrilled to announce this strategic cooperation agreement. Dr.

Yoshihiro Kitazawa, Chief Medical Director of the clinic, was a recipient of our ICL Ambassador Award in 2017 and holds STAAR’s ‘Expert Instructor’ training and education designation. The clinic has treated many celebrity patients. We look forward to working even more closely with the Kobe Kanagawa team to achieve excellent vision for patients with the EVO Visian ICL family of lenses."

About STAAR Surgical

STAAR, which has been dedicated solely to ophthalmic surgery for over 30 years, designs, develops, manufactures and markets implantable lenses for the eye with companion delivery systems. These lenses are intended to provide visual freedom for patients, lessening or eliminating the reliance on glasses or contact lenses. All of these lenses are foldable, which permits the surgeon to insert them through a small incision. STAAR’s lens used in refractive surgery is called an Implantable Collamer® Lens or “ICL”, which includes the EVO Visian ICL™ product line. More than 800,000 Visian ICLs have been implanted to date. To learn more about the ICL go to: www.discovericl.com. STAAR has approximately 350 full-time equivalent employees and markets lenses in over 75 countries. Headquartered in Monrovia, CA, the company operates manufacturing facilities in Aliso Viejo, CA and Monrovia, CA. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.staar.com.