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Thomas Ruggia

SARATOGA, Calif.—VisionCare, a developer of advanced visual prosthetic devices for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), announced that Thomas Ruggia has been appointed as the company’s new chief executive officer, effective July 6, 2020. Wolfgang Tolle, who most recently served as CEO and executive chairman of the board, has left VisionCare to focus on new opportunities. Before joining VisionCare, Ruggia spent five years at Johnson & Johnson, working at Johnson & Johnson Vision and The Janssen Pharma Co, respectively.

Most recently at Johnson & Johnson Vision, he was the vice president worldwide customer experience and ocular surface disease, responsible for two global commercial teams working in customer strategy, customer service, and field technical service. At Janssen, he was the commercial strategy leader in ophthalmology assigned to an asset in development for AMD.

Previously, Ruggia spent 14 years at Alcon, a division of Novartis, working in a variety of ophthalmology sales and marketing roles with escalating responsibility.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Tom to VisionCare. His nearly 20 years of ophthalmology business experience means he has a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the health care environment in the United States and abroad, as well as significant experience in the development and commercialization of vision products with differing regulatory and pricing structures,” said Richard Powers, executive vice president. “Tom brings new energy to VisionCare at a pivotal time when we are poised to expand the reach and appeal of the CentraSight treatment program.”