MONROVIA, Calif.—STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA), reported net sales of $20.1 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2016, up 7 percent compared to $18.8 million reported in the prior year quarter. The sales increase was driven by ICL revenue and unit growth of 15 percent each, and IOL revenue growth of 6 percent, STAAR said in a statement.

The increases were partially offset by planned lower sales of injector parts in the third quarter and a delay in orders from Canadian surgeons awaiting EVO Toric lens approval, which occurred on Sept. 21, 2016. For the first nine months of 2016, ICL revenue and units increased 16 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

For the third quarter of 2016, STAAR’s gross profit margin was 74.2 percent compared to the prior year period of 68.3 percent. An increased mix of higher margin ICL units, lower ICL unit costs, higher average selling prices and lower inventory reserves combined to improve gross margin by approximately 5.9 points, according to STAAR.

Operating expenses for the quarter increased $1.8 million to $16.6 million compared to the prior year quarter primarily due to costs related to quality system improvements and investments made in the international selling and marketing organizations. General and administrative expense was $5.0 million and the change from the prior year quarter was not material.

Marketing and selling expense was $7.1 million, $0.9 million higher than the prior year quarter due to the rebranding efforts and international selling and promotional costs. Research and development expense was $4.5 million, an increase of $0.8 million due to investments in quality system improvements, clinical affairs and project-related spending, partially offset by lower FDA remediation expenses. Remediation expense for the quarter was on budget, the company said.