PALO ALTO, Calif.—PARC, a Xerox company, announced last week that it has reached an agreement with global eyecare company Alcon to develop innovative new treatments for eyecare. The agreement includes a licensing arrangement with Alcon to leverage PARC intellectual property for potential new products that are anticipated to enter the market over the next two to four years, according to the announcement. “Alcon has been working with PARC for more than three years to develop innovative technology that can be used with our vision care products,” Andy Pawson, president of Alcon’s Global Vision Care franchise, said.

“We’re excited to continue this work and for the opportunity to utilize PARC’s research and development expertise to find new ways to bring an improved experience to patients and consumers around the world,” he said.

PARC (or Palo Alto Research Center) was founded in 1970 as Xerox PARC, and it has created $1 trillion in new industries, $60 billion in start-ups and spin-offs, and almost 6,000 patents and patent applications since its inception, according to the group’s website. It provides custom R&D services, technology, expertise, best practices and intellectual property to companies of all sizes, and works toward augmenting internal capabilities and reducing risk for clients. Its successes range from the Ethernet to laser printing.

“Vision problems have been steadily increasing due to diseases such as diabetes and other health issues,” said Tolga Kurtoglu, head of global research, Xerox. “Using technology, we’ve developed at PARC, we’re working with Alcon to develop new eyecare solutions that will help millions of people who struggle with various eye conditions.”

Ocular health has a total addressable market of $6 billion, the announcement noted.