Valeant Looking for Contact Lens Company—Maybe

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. remains “on the hunt for other companies, including makers of innovative contact lenses, as it presses on with efforts to take over Botox-maker Allergan Inc (AGN.N),” according to a Reuters report. “On a conference call with investors, Valeant Chief Executive Officer Michael Pearson said the company will not be content to remain the No. 4 global player in the contact lens industry.” Read more.

Hilfiger and Safilo Tie Knot Again

Safilo Group and the Tommy Hilfiger Group renewed their global eyewear licensing agreement for the exclusive design, development, production and distribution of the Tommy Hilfiger ophthalmic and sunglass collections. The agreement will run until December 31, 2020, with an optional five-year extension thereafter.

New Reading System Helps Visually Impaired ‘See’ Graphics

“People who are blind can now read more than just words, such as graphs and graphics, following the development of an affordable digital reading system by Curtin University researchers,” goes the post in Medical News Today. “Opening up new career paths and educational opportunities for people with vision impairment, the system combines a number of pattern recognition technologies into a single platform and, for the first time, allows mathematics and graphical material to be extracted and described without sighted intervention. Senior Lecturer Dr. Iain Murray and Ph.D. student Azadeh Nazemi of Curtin's Department of Electrical and Computing Engineering developed the device to handle the extraordinary number of complex issues faced by the vision impaired when needing to read graphics, graphs, bills, bank statements and more.” Read more.

New Eyewear from Vera Bradley

“The old and new come together in bold new color combinations for the perfect summer eyewear collection,” according to Midwest Lens. “The newest frames from the Vera Bradley Ladies collection offer classic and trendy looks in Vera Bradley latest colors. Jasmine, Blake, Marissa and Greta offer four sunny looks for summer that are perfect for any woman who loves Vera Bradley.” Read more.

New Eyewear from Eastern States

“Comprised of four plastic and four metal styles, the new release features a bright, diverse color palette,” writes Midwest Lens. “Several techniques are utilized to demonstrate the brand’s penchant for rich, attractive coloring. Plastic triple laminate temples feature cuts to show off the added color within their layers. Metal styles feature endpiece work that allows for subtle color accents to contrast their fronts. Additionally, a theme of dynamic detailing on endpieces such as flowing metal work, laser etching and rhinestones. A variety of shapes and sizes are featured in the entire new collection, showing an ability to fit standard size faces and tweeners alike.” Read more.

MIT Smartphone Eye Exam Raises $4 Million

“An MIT mobile health spinoff wants to bring vision tests to smartphones and has raised $4 million as part of a Series A round. In a phone interview with MedCity News, EyeNetra COO and co-founder David Schafran confirmed the fundraise but was fairly tight-lipped about details such as how the tests would be delivered and assessed,” notes MedCity News. “Previously known as PerfectSight, EyeNetra developed a device called NetraG that can be applied to mobile phones to create a smartphone vision test. The device can generate a recommended power for each person’s eyeglasses and contact lenses. It is designed to test for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. It also measures for the distance between eyes. Its website claims its technology is as accurate as autorefractors, but a good deal less expensive than their $45,000 price tag.The company also is developing a data analytics component to identify patterns and trends to develop specific recommendations for each patient.” Read more.

Vision-Correcting Displays Compensate for Visual Impairments

“What if computer screens had glasses instead of the people staring at the monitors? That concept is not too far afield from technology being developed by UC Berkeley computer and vision scientists,” according to a post on Science Daily. “The researchers are developing computer algorithms to compensate for an individual's visual impairment, and creating vision-correcting displays that enable users to see text and images clearly without wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses. The technology could potentially help hundreds of millions of people who currently need corrective lenses to use their smartphones, tablets and computers. One common problem, for example, is presbyopia, a type of farsightedness in which the ability to focus on nearby objects is gradually diminished as the aging eyes' lenses lose elasticity. More importantly, the displays could one day aid people with more complex visual problems, known as high order aberrations, which cannot be corrected by eyeglasses, said Brian Barsky, UC Berkeley professor of computer science and vision science, and affiliate professor of optometry.” Read more.

Three Contact Lens Manufacturers Investigated for Price Fixing

“Moves by three of the four major U.S. contact lens makers to set price floors for many of their products, preventing low-cost retailers from discounting the expensive devices, have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers.,” reports Reuters. “The Senate Judiciary Committee's nine-member antitrust panel will meet on Wednesday to consider the decisions by Alcon, owned by Novartis AG ; Bausch+Lomb, owned by Valeant Pharmaceuticals ; and Johnson & Johnson to put in place minimum sale prices for some of their products. The practice would have been illegal just a decade ago but became legal when the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that manufacturers can set minimum sale prices in some situations. Lawmakers will seek to determine whether these policies limit competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.” Read more.

New Eyewear from Seraphin

“Demonstrating a noteworthy tribute to masculine boldness, Seraphin Eyewear introduces the Lincoln. With its daring take on traditional men’s styled frames, a solid representation of bravery emulates throughout the Lincoln,” according to Midwest Lens. “Designed with a larger prominent face in mind, the Lincoln embodies modern masculinity with declared confidence. This notable appearance is carefully revealed in handcrafted Italian acetate in four traditional pattern options of Midnight Fade/Midnight, Blue Demi, Olive Demi, and Honey Tortoise. This distinguished frame gets a modern twist with its three-dimensional silver diamond-shaped rivets, giving depth and visual intrigue to the peaks of the Lincoln.” Read more.

New Columbia Eyewear from L'Amy

“L’Amy America, a division of global eyewear group TWC-L’Amy, announces the worldwide launch of two new tweener ophthalmic models, with metals featuring Columbia’s exclusive 180°™ hinge system, just in time for the back-to-school sell-in season,” writes Midwest Lens. “The new additions, to the now 11 model Columbia Tweener collection, are combination metal models, “Eagle Rock and Red Cliff.” The metals provide two distinct size options, with distinctive shapes, and Gripol™ rubberized temple stems for stability on face and super soft touch against the skin.” Read more.

Google Contact Lens Gives Each Person a ‘Signature’

“Two Google patents hot off the presses imagine a world where special contact lenses essentially turn your eye into a fingerprint, with each person having a unique, snowflake like signature,l” according to the website Phandroid. “Built in capacitive sensors would be used to ensure it’s an actual eyeball, not a fake replica, that is being scanned. The process has three steps:

1. Receiving light on an iris of an eye
2. Detecting, at one or more light sensors disposed on or within a transparent lens covering at least a portion of the eye, light reflected from the light incident on the iris of the eye, wherein the light reflected comprises image data indicative of a pattern associated with the iris.
3. Outputting an iris fingerprint based in part on the image data.”

Read more and see the schematic for the design.

New Eyewear from Mykita

“Bernhard Willhelm is well known for his extraordinary designs, their innovative cuts and witty references to pop culture. For the Autumn/Winter 2014 season, the brand once again decided to forgo a live presentation and instead used the city of Los Angeles to stage their new lookbook. The resulting images show Bernhard Willhelm’s most recent collection alongside two new models from the Mykita & Bernhard Willhelm sunglasses range: Ursula & Erwin,,” according to Midwest Lens. “A shape traditionally occurring in smaller frame dimensions, the octagonal silhouette is blown out of proportion for Ursula. Like sister hippie-esque model Janis, Ursula features sleek details; the temples as well as the nose pads are not treated or coated. The continued use of this reduced concept streamlines the frame, and the radical lens shape takes center stage.” Read more.

Luxottica Keeps Chanel in the Fold

“Italy's Luxottica has extended a license agreement to produce and distribute Chanel-branded eyeglasses until the end of 2018, renewable for a further two years, the world's largest eyewear maker by revenue said on Thursday,” reports Reuters. “The relationship between Luxottica and Chanel dates back to 1999 when the French fashion house launched its first-ever eyewear collections, CEO Andrea Guerra said in a statement.” Read more.

A Look at Premier Eye Care

“And for 20 years, she has built and led managed care company Premier Eye Care, which manages medical and routine vision care, including medical review, authorization and payment, for 2.7 million Floridians, through Medicaid and Medicare plans and private insurance plans, including Humana, WellCare and Simply Healthcare,” writes Florida Trend. “Premier, which also manages vision care for another 287,743 outside of Florida, is on Florida Trend’s list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in Florida for the second consecutive year.” Read more.

Vuzix and Lenovo Launch Smart Eyewear in China

“Video eyewear and smart eyeglasses company Vuzix Corp. of Brighton said Thursday it had signed a deal with PC giant Lenovo to launch Vuzix’s M100 Smart Glasses into China,” reports the Democrat & Chronicle. “Vuzix launched the M100 — which includes a built-in computer and has similar capabilities as a smartphone — in late 2013 and has said it looks to the M100 to be a flagship product. According to Vuzix, the M100 in China will be co-branded as a Vuzix/Lenovo solution and marketed there as part of Lenovo’s New Business Development brand. as ‘Vuzix 100 Smart Glasses powered by Lenovo NBD.’ The Lenovo deal has Vuzix serving as the exclusive third-party provider of smart glasses to Lenovo for the Chinese industrial and commercial markets.” Read more.

New Columbia Eyewear from L’Amy

“L’Amy America’s Columbia Eyewear, an industry leader in outdoor ophthalmic design, announces the worldwide launch of several new models for the Summer, with design options in stainless steel or titanium,” according to Midwest Lens. “Bitterroot and Brundage are 2 new easy-wearing, traditional rectangles with slight sport attitude made of stainless steel which is durable, and has a soft-brushed finish with subtle two-color temple detail—the ultimate “daily commute” frame for more conservative tastes.” Read more.

New Eyewear from Vera Bradley Girlfriends

Midwest Lens writes, "The Vera Bradley Girlfriends collection offers a frame for every style, whether she prefers sport blue or pretty in pink. Farrah, Ivy and Paula offer a mix of trendy and classic eyeshapes and design details to make each girl feel extraordinary." Read more.

Loss of Children's Vision Care? Now Possible

Many American parents were counting on the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to get vision screenings and, possibly, eyewear for their children. That could be out the question as a result of reason court rulings.

"Millions of low- and moderate-income people who signed up for health insurance with the help of federal tax-credit subsidies could find themselves without coverage or facing big premium bills if a destructive decision handed down by a federal appeals court in Washington on Tuesday is not reversed," starts an editorial from the New York Times. "It would be a crippling blow to the ability of the Affordable Care Act to reduce the ranks of the uninsured with grievous consequences for vulnerable customers." Read more. How do this affect children? The only Americans eligible for vision care coverage under the ACA are children.

Autofocusing Contact Lenses: Why not?

The Google-Novartis (Alcon) contact lens deal has re-ignited conversation about the future of contact lenses. Here's a part of what the MIT Technology Review discussed this week: "Quinn also believes that drug delivery may be another use for future contact lenses. If a lens could dispense medication slowly over long periods of time, it would be better for patients than the short, concentrated doses provided by eye drops, he says. Such a lens is not easy to make, though (see 'A Drug-Dispensing Lens'). The autofocusing lens is in an earlier stage of development, but the goal is for it to adjust its shape depending on where the eye is looking, which would be especially helpful for people who need reading glasses. A current prototype of the lens uses photodiodes to detect light hitting the eye and determine whether the eye is directed downward. Leveiller says the team is also looking at other possible techniques." Read more.

Kids Use Digital Devices More Than Parents Think

"According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), parents severely underestimate the time their children spend on digital devices," says News Medical. "An AOA survey reports that 83 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 17 estimate they use an electronic device for three or more hours each day. However, a separate AOA survey of parents revealed that only 40 percent of parents believe their children use an electronic device for that same amount of time. Eye doctors are concerned that this significant disparity may indicate that parents are more likely to overlook warning signs and symptoms associated with vision problems due to technology use, such as digital eye strain." Read more.