STAAR Surgical Announces Strategic Alliance Agreement with California Center for Refractive Surgery (CCRS)

2019-12-17
Press release

CCRS Plans to Open First Lens-Based Clinic in Los Angeles County Offering Visian ICL as the Clinic’s Primary Refractive Solution

CCRS Provides Eye Care and Vision Correction Solutions

LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA), a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable lenses and companion delivery systems for the eye, today announced it has entered into a strategic alliance with the California Center for Refractive Surgery (CCRS), a Los Angeles based eye care group with locations in Hancock Park and Sherman Oaks.

“Our new multi-clinic alliance with CCRS and its founder Dr. Paul Lee is representative of the new strategic partnership model we are now offering to highly-qualified ophthalmic partners in the U.S., the second largest market for refractive vision correction in the world,” said Caren Mason, President and CEO of STAAR Surgical. “Dr. Lee is a leading ophthalmic surgeon who attended our inaugural U.S. Surgeons Council Summit earlier this year, has subsequently increased his commitment to use our Visian ICL family of lenses for vision correction in his clinics and now has plans to open one of the first lens-based only clinics in the United States in the near future. We look forward to supporting Dr. Lee’s practice development through digital marketing, patient education tools and certified surgeon and staff training relating to the Visian ICL as we partner to address the growing patient need for vision correction in the U.S.”

Dr. Lee has performed thousands of various refractive procedures over an illustrious career spanning more than 20 years. His distinctions include being a leading Visian ICL (Implantable Collamer Lens) surgeon, the first U.S. surgeon to be certified in SMILE and receiving the Alcon Centurion Surgeon Award.

“My goal as a surgeon has always been to give patients freedom from their glasses for a lifetime and the Visian ICL family of implantable Collamer lenses can play a key role in doing just that,” said Dr. Paul Lee, Founder and Medical Director of CCRS. “The ICL is a quick additive procedure that preserves future options by leaving the eye in its most natural state. This has far-reaching implications for patients in terms of visual outcome and satisfaction, both short term and long term. There is growing awareness and acceptance of lens-based surgery, such as the Visian ICL, as surgeons like myself begin to see limitations of cornea based refractive procedures as the standard of care. The ICL is removable which potentially gives a patient the option as they age to replace the ICL lens with a lens that addresses presbyopia and/or cataracts. Data and experience with the ICL, particularly overseas where surgeons have utilized the lenses more broadly, is outstanding and I am currently identifying potential locations in the greater Pasadena area for a lens-based only clinic where we will offer the ICL as the primary refractive solution. My staff and I are excited to offer even more patients the advantages of the Visian ICL family of lenses, which include no dry-eye syndrome or weakening of the cornea and excellent vision outcomes.”

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 1,000,000 Visian® ICLs have been implanted to date and STAAR markets these lenses in over 75 countries. To learn more about the ICL go to: www.discovericl.com. Headquartered in Lake Forest, CA, the company operates manufacturing and packaging facilities in Aliso Viejo, CA, Monrovia, CA and Nidau, Switzerland. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.staar.com.

About California Center for Refractive Surgery (CCRS)

California Center for Refractive Surgery (CCRS) was established in 2000 with a mission of providing patients with the most advanced and personalized eye care at an affordable price. Since establishing CCRS, Dr. Paul C. Lee has dedicated himself to these causes and stayed at the forefront of eye care and vision correction surgery. He has been a pioneer who has consistently implemented the latest technologies in both diagnostics and treatments to offer safe and effective eye care. CCRS’s other clinics offer a variety of procedures in addition to the Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL) such as LASIK and SMILE. CCRS is an outcome-driven practice with the goal of obtaining excellent achievable vision for patients, determining and meeting individual expectations, and providing sincere and caring service. CCRS has clinic locations in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles and Sherman Oaks. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.ccrsclearvision.com.

ATTENTION:

For Physicians: Please reference the Visian ICL Product Information for a complete listing of indications, warnings, and precautions.

For Patients: Before considering Visian ICL surgery you should talk with your eye care professional about Visian ICL surgery, especially the potential benefits, risks, and complications.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements include but are not limited to statements regarding the potential commercial and medical significance of the VISIAN ICL family of products in the market, and our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory market approval. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations or beliefs regarding future events or circumstances, and you should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, many of which are out of STAAR’s control and difficult to forecast that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that may be described or implied in the forward-looking statements. STAAR cannot be certain about the commercial success of the VISIAN ICL family of products in any market. For a discussion of certain other risks, uncertainties and other factors affecting the statements contained in this news release, see STAAR’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2018, under the caption “Risk Factors,” which is on file with the SEC and available in the “Investor Information” section of STAAR’s website under the heading “SEC Filings”. Except as required by law, STAAR assumes no, and hereby disclaims any, obligation to update any of the foregoing or any other forward-looking statements. STAAR nonetheless reserves the right to make such updates from time to time by press release, periodic report or other method of public disclosure without the need for specific reference to this news release. No such update shall be deemed to indicate that other statements not addressed by such update remain correct or create an obligation to provide any other updates.