Latest News SynergEyes and Menicon Partner to Expand SynergEyes’ Specialty Contact Lens Portfolio By Staff Monday, January 9, 2017 12:24 AM CARLSBAD, Calif.—SynergEyes, a leading hybrid specialty contact lens company, has agreed to a new partnership with NKL Contact Lens that SynergEyes said will pave the way for it “to offer a complete line of scleral, gas permeable and hybrid contact lens products in North America.”NKL, Europe’s largest specialty contact lens manufacturer, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Menicon Co., Ltd., Japan’s largest contact lens manufacturer and the world’s largest producer of gas-permeable contact lenses, according to the companies’ announcement. The deal was announced Jan. 6.Beginning this year, SynergEyes said it will expand its specialty contact lens portfolio beyond hybrid lenses to include GP and scleral lenses, the fastest-growing segment in specialty contact lenses. The new line of lenses will be introduced this month at the Global Specialty Lens Symposium in Las Vegas.“We want to offer independent eyecare professionals a complete line of the best-in-class specialty contact lenses for every corneal condition,” James K. Kirchner, president and chief executive officer of SynergEyes, said in the statement. “SynergEyes is known for hybrid lenses and has now partnered with NKL to offer ECPs a one-stop-shop for all their specialty contact lens needs.”According to a survey of independent ECPs, 67 percent of hybrid lens prescribers agree that offering scleral lens technology is a way to differentiate their practice, SynergEyes said in its statement. “As a specialty contact lens provider servicing independent ECPs, it’s a natural extension for SynergEyes to offer other high-quality scleral and GP specialty products,” the company added.By combining the SynergEyes branding, technical support and sales team with the proven lens designs of NKL, independent ECPs will now have access to a complete line of specialty contact lens products from SynergEyes, the statement noted.“We are very excited to work with SynergEyes,” Peter Nijhuis, managing commercial director of NKL Contactlenzen, said. “Teaming up with SynergEyes to bring these proven lens designs to the U.S. market is an exciting development for our company.”