55
EW INTERNATIONAL
November 2014
Contact information
Benoit: o.benoit@aptissen.com
Romano: fromano@eyetechcare.com
Vanbrabant:
michel.vanbrabant@istarmed.com
Van de Weyer: gvdw@innfocusinc.com
financial interests with Aptissen.
Mr. Vanbrabant has financial interests
with iSTAR Medical.
Editors' note: Mr. Van de Weyer has
financial interests with InnFocus.
Dr. Romano has financial interests
with EyeTechCare. Mr. Benoit has
it is very easy to use. The surgeon
doesn't have to learn any new tech-
nique. Just do surgery as before, and
use the product to separate tissue
and avoid premature uncontrolled
fibrosis. It takes less than a minute
more and increases the success rate."
Uncontrolled fibrosis is a com-
plication that contributes to treat-
ment failure. When this happens,
patients have to come back for
another surgery or undergo another
treatment method.
HealaFlow serves as an anti-ad-
herent substance that helps monitor
the fibrosis. The use of the product
limits the amount of this complica-
tion and helps improve the success
rate of the surgery. The product is
already registered in various coun-
tries, and clinical data is available for
each of the main kinds of surgery.
"It looks simple, but it does work
very well," Mr. Benoit concluded.
Methodical release to
the marketplace
Then there is the STARflo Glaucoma
Implant by iSTAR Medical (Isnes,
Belgium), a non-degradable,
precision-pore implant made
from the company's proprietary
STAR Biomaterial.
The product received CE mark
in 2012 for the treatment of open
angle glaucoma. It is designed to
operate as a bleb-free, micro-porous
drainage system that would reduce
IOP by augmenting the eye's natural
uveoscleral outflow.
The STARflo Glaucoma Implant
has been used by a limited panel
of glaucoma surgeons as part of its
post-market evaluation program.
"Initial results are very impressive
and allowed us to raise our Series A
funding at the end of 2013," said
Michel Vanbrabant, CEO of iSTAR
Medical. "Our primary goal is to col-
lect robust clinical evidence through
a dedicated multicenter European
clinical study so that the STARflo is
accepted by the glaucoma commu-
nity as a safe and long-term effective
drainage implant for patients
suffering from POAG. We have
also finalized our plans for an IDE
clinical study in the U.S."
As these glaucoma innovations
are just now becoming commer-
cialized, the ophthalmic industry
continues to wait for the glaucoma
treatment wonder of the future. EW
