Warren Foust (l) and Magda Michna, PhD.

LAKE FOREST, Calif.—STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable lenses for the eye, announced Warren Foust has been named chief operating officer and Magda Michna, PhD, has been named chief clinical, regulatory and medical affairs officer. Both positions will report to STAAR Surgical’s president and CEO, Tom Frinzi. “The addition of two highly regarded ophthalmic leaders to our team exemplifies the success, momentum and opportunity for STAAR as we work with surgeons to expand the market for refractive vision correction with our proprietary EVO ICL lenses to the millions of people seeking visual freedom from contact lenses and glasses,” said Frinzi.

“Warren will be integral to advancing our growth objectives, especially in the U.S., including many important aspects of our commercial and manufacturing operations. He is uniquely qualified to work with the U.S. surgeon community given his experience leading one of the world’s premier ophthalmic businesses," Frinzi said.

“Dr. Michna is an important addition to overseeing and advancing our global clinical and regulatory pipeline, as well as adding to the published data supporting the clinical benefits of our lens technologies. My sincere gratitude to Denise McEachern, STAAR’s global head of regulatory affairs, who is planning to retire after successfully shepherding several STAAR medical devices through the regulatory process and approval,” he said.

 
Most recently, Foust served as worldwide president, Johnson & Johnson Vision, Surgical, since December 2019. At Johnson & Johnson, Warren managed the global surgical business with approximately $1.5 billion in annual sales and 5,000 employees. Prior to Johnson & Johnson Vision, Surgical, Foust served as worldwide president of mentor, a leading breast reconstruction and aesthetics business unit of Johnson & Johnson from 2018-2019, and vice president, U.S. sales and marketing from 2015-2018.

Foust stated, “I am so grateful to be part of the ophthalmic community. It is an honor to work at STAAR. I believe STAAR has the right technology at the right time to establish a new standard of care for refractive vision correction. My focus will be on empowering our STAAR teams and equipping our surgeon customers with the tools they need to drive growth and adoption of the EVO family of lenses. I am also very happy to work with Tom again.”

Dr. Michna joins STAAR Surgical from AcuFocus, Inc. where she served as chief global clinical, medical and regulatory affairs officer since April 2018. AcuFocus was acquired by Bausch + Lomb in January 2023. Prior to AcuFocus, Dr. Michna served as chief clinical officer at Presbia. From 2012 to 2017, Dr. Michna led clinical development for many premium intraocular lens and other surgical device technologies supporting the Alcon Surgical franchise. Dr. Michna holds a doctor of philosophy degree in optical physics and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

"I have admired STAAR’s technology and its management team for several years and look forward to leading clinical, regulatory and medical affairs,” stated Dr. Michna. “The safety and effectiveness of the EVO family of lenses is well established, and I am confident we can facilitate even broader awareness and understanding of the data within the ophthalmic community.”