By Staff
Monday, January 13, 2020 12:21 AM
PARIS & FORT WORTH, Texas—
Eyevensys, a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company developing non-viral gene therapies for retinal and other ophthalmic diseases, announced that it has completed a $30 million Series B financing. The round was led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and included participation from existing investors Pontifax, Bpifrance, CapDecisif, and Inserm Transfert, as well as new investors, the Global Health Sciences (GHS) Fund (Quark Venture LP and GF Securities) and Pureos Bioventures. The company said it will use the funds to continue the development of its clinical lead candidate EYS606 for the treatment of chronic non-infectious uveitis (NIU), including the launch of its Electro Study.
By Staff
Friday, January 3, 2020 12:24 AM
ST. LOUIS—The
American Optometric Association (AOA), in response to “information disseminated by various individuals and organizations regarding upcoming changes to coding and reimbursement” for evaluation and management services (E/M services), has provided an update about this topic for optometrists. Given the importance of E/M services in patient care, it's critical that all optometrists “are aware of these changes,” the association noted in the post on its website. According to the AOA post, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2018 proposed to reduce the payment variation for office/outpatient E/M visit levels by paying a single rate for office/outpatient E/M visit levels 2 through 4 (one rate for established patients and another rate for new patients), while maintaining the payment rate for office/outpatient E/M visit level 5.
By Staff
Friday, December 27, 2019 12:30 AM
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif.—
VSP Ventures, a care-focused practice transition partner and a business unit of
VSP Global, announced Thursday the acquisition of
Brookside Optometric Group in Stockton, Calif. Founded in 1998 by the late Craig Hisaka, OD, Brookside Optometric Group was established after the five largest optometric practices in Stockton merged together, according to the announcement. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. VSP Ventures was launched in March 2019 as part of VSP Global’s expanded retail strategy, as
VMAIL reported.
By Staff
Wednesday, December 18, 2019 12:24 AM
LAVAL, Quebec—
Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) said this week that the parties in a securities class action filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey have agreed to resolve the action for $1.21 billion, subject to court approval. Once approved by the court, the settlement of this action, which has been referred to as the “Valeant stock drop” case, will resolve and discharge all claims against the company, according to an announcement. “Resolving this action enables Bausch Health to close the door on one of the more meaningful and unpredictable liabilities associated with the legacy Valeant era,” Bausch Health chairman and CEO Joseph C. Papa said in the announcement.
By Staff
Thursday, December 12, 2019 12:15 AM
MANASSAS, Va.—
Notal Vision Inc., a privately held ophthalmic diagnostic services company focused on advancing eyecare with precision medicine, said this week that
Ganot Capital is extending a recent funding round to $25 million. The continued investment will enable Notal Vision to support the commercial growth of the company’s current service, ForeseeHome AMD Monitoring Program, as well as further research and development efforts for pipeline technologies, according to the announcement. “Pursuing additional funding has allowed us to expand our ForeseeHome field-based sales team,” chief executive officer Kester Nahen said in the announcement. “We have a proven model that includes low-cost medical devices, an effective artificial intelligence (AI)-driven decision support solution, and a dependable clinical patient engagement platform. With the additional investment, we believe we will be able to prove that partnering with accounts as an extension of their practice will drive deeper adoption of our home diagnostic services.”
By Staff
Friday, December 6, 2019 12:30 AM
SAN RAMON, Calif.—CooperCompanies (NYSE: COO) reported Thursday that its sales increased 6 percent (7 percent pro forma) in the fourth quarter to $691.6 million, and 5 percent (7 percent pro forma) for fiscal 2019 to $2.65 billion. The company also noted that its gross margin in the fourth quarter (which ended Oct. 31) stayed “consistent” at 66 percent, while its operating margin came in at 21 percent in the fourth quarter, which compares with 19 percent in the year-ago period, which the company attributed to operating expense leverage.
By Staff
Thursday, November 21, 2019 12:27 AM
GENEVA—
Alcon (SIX/NYSE:ALC) reported third-quarter financial results showing a 6 percent sales increase (at constant currency) for the period ended Sept. 30 and also announced a plan for “a multi-year transformation program” designed to reorganize and reinvest savings into “strategic growth initiatives supporting long-term financial goals.” The company also noted its successful recent U.S. launches of PanOptix and Precision1 contact lenses. For the third quarter, worldwide sales rose 4 percent on a reported basis to $1.8 billion.
By Staff
Wednesday, November 13, 2019 12:27 AM
PADUA, Italy—
Safilo Group S.p.A. reported that its third quarter financial performance "continued the Group's positive momentum in sales and cost reduction," according to the company. The board of directors reviewed and approved the third quarter and first nine months of economic and key performance indicators yesterday. Angelo Trocchia, Safilo's CEO, commented, “In the third quarter of the year, we continued the improvement of our results, working with determination on those priorities aimed at enhancing our Group’s assets, in particular strengthening our commercial capabilities and enhancing our digital agenda, two areas in which our strategy is focused on the customer and on a continuous and ever closer connection with the final consumer. Meanwhile, we progressed also with actions to improve the efficiency of our production processes and overhead cost structures. The quarter brought significant results. We renewed two strategic partnerships relating to the Boss and Hugo licenses and the supply agreement with Kering Eyewear, and we prepared for the launch of our new licenses — David Beckham, Levi’s and Missoni."
By Staff
Friday, November 8, 2019 12:27 AM
DULUTH, Ga.—Marking its 71st consecutive quarter of comparable-store sales growth,
National Vision Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EYE) reported Thursday that its net revenue increased 11.5 percent to $431.9 million in the third quarter, driven in part by adjusted comparable-store sales growth of 6.2 percent (5.7 percent non-adjusted) in the quarter. Net income totaled $1.2 million in the quarter, which compares with net income of $5.2 million in the year-ago period. However, adjusted net income increased 65.8 percent to $14.5 million, compared with $8.7 million in last year’s third quarter.
By Staff
Wednesday, November 6, 2019 12:21 AM
DUBLIN—
Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) reported Tuesday that its third-quarter sales rose 3.6 percent to $4.05 billion (on a GAAP basis), and that its non-GAAP operating income fell by almost 8 percent because of the impact divestitures and the loss of patent protection for some products, among other factors. However, Allergan said it was raising its full-year sales guidance (on a GAAP basis) by $200 million to a range of $15.625 billion to $15.825 billion.