Eyeworld

79 November 2016 EW MEETING REPORTER (Watertown, Massachusetts), and Omeros (Seattle). The OIS Index was also dis- cussed during the afternoon presen- tations. This is a recently created composite of ophthalmic growth stocks to serve as a tool to track progress in the industry. It tracks publically traded mid-cap and small- cap companies in ophthalmology. Creating an ophthalmic franchise on the global scale Some industry leaders representing major ophthalmic companies sat down to discuss their company's position and thoughts on creating a global franchise. "We're going to talk about how within those companies they think about ophthalmology," Dr. Cunningham said, introducing the session, which featured Robert Dempsey with Shire (Lexington, Massachusetts), Jerry St. Peter with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Mumbai, India), Ashley McEvoy with Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Jacksonville, Florida), Calvin Roberts, MD, with Bausch + Lomb (Bridgewater, New Jersey), and Jim Mazzo, with Carl Zeiss Meditec (Jena, Germany). Dr. Cunningham asked the pan- elists about the role U.S. vs. ex-U.S. markets play in their ophthalmology business and how they would like to see these markets evolve over time. He also asked if they thought inno- vation and revenue were moving to ex-U.S. countries. Sun Pharma, Mr. St. Peter said, has its foundation and strength in India but sees its current plan to expand into the U.S. as a strategic move to launch the company to- ward its global goals. "[The U.S.] is the prime launch- ing pad to take a company from point A to point B when you paint a global picture," he said. Bausch + Lomb is one of the oldest U.S. manufacturing companies. Dr. Roberts said the company's first 160 years were very U.S. centric. After its acquisition by Valeant Pharmaceuticals (Quebec, Canada), however, came a different philosophy of being a model where the global company is not necessari- ly governed by what is happening in the U.S. "What the decentralized model has done is allow senior manage- ment in each region to mold the company to what works best in that region," Dr. Roberts said. Dr. Cunningham asked panelists their thoughts on external vs. inter- nal innovation. Mr. Mazzo said companies need to look at their internal R&D pro- grams and the return on investment that those programs provide. He said Zeiss spends about 10% on internal R&D, but also looks externally. "If someone is smarter than us, we'll take full advantage," he said, noting that the company has identified what it thinks are some of the largest areas of unmet need in the ophthalmic industry and will be focusing its innovation efforts on those areas. Ms. McEvoy said that compa- nies looking externally at least "need to have the right competency and expertise to know what good looks like." Industry tribute A special presentation honored Allergan (Dublin) and several key leaders in the company's history. Gavin Herbert Jr., a key founder of the company, David Pyott, former CEO, and William Meury, the chief commercial officer, spoke to William Link, PhD, San Francisco, about their work with the company. The history of Allergan was discussed, its founding in 1948 and the establishment of Allergan Phar- maceuticals in 1950. The company is named for its first product of the same name. Currently, Allergan is a global, multi-specialty health care company that maintains a leading portfolio in eyecare. Mr. Herbert took over Allergan as president in 1957 from his father, who founded the company. He discussed his journey and growth of the company as it gradually began to earn more money and then went public in 1971. Mr. Meury said there are many new technologies coming from Allergan, and he expects the product line to evolve from just pharmaceu- tical to include devices, procedures, implants, and rings. Finding financing A poll starting off the session "Inno- vative Financing Options in Oph- thalmology" found the majority of audience members think the source of capital that will add the most val- ue to a company is a large company strategic partnership/investment or so-called angel funding. Moderator Gilbert Kliman, MD, InterWest Partners, Menlo Park, California, said his hope for the poll was to show "what the perceived value to entrepreneurship is." The panel speakers represented different types of financing opportu- nities: Sean Ianchulev, MD, Private Medical Equity, San Francisco; Laurent Attias, Alcon, Fort Worth, Texas; Nir Ellenbogen, Eye-Lens Pte Ltd, Singapore; Jeffry Weinhuff, Visionary Venture Fund, Aliso Viejo, California; and Patricia Zilliox, PhD, Foundation Fighting Blind- ness, Columbia, Maryland. For those seeking financing, the first step is catching the interest of the company or organization with the ability to offer it. Dr. Zilliox said most of the time, those seek- ing financing for their innovations come to the Foundation for Fighting Blindness, rather than the organiza- tion reaching out to them. Private Medical Equity, on the other hand, finds ideas it would consider financ- ing through word of mouth, and Mr. Weinhuff with Visionary Venture Fund said its deals generally come from partners. Those investing in new inno- vations would like a return on their investment, but what are their goals and time frame for that? Mr. Weinhuff said earlier stage investments, naturally, would have later time frames, but Visionary Ven- ture Fund's preference is supporting innovations that are a bit later in the process. Dr. Ianchulev said the first ques- tions he asks is not a time frame for return on investment or what kind of market is there, but rather what kind of problem is the technology solving? What is unique and what is the clinical utility? From there, "somehow the eco- nomics always flow," he said. Masters of Industry "Our industry has changed and our landscaping is changing," Mr. Mazzo said before giving some brief statis- tics about the opportunity and chal- lenge there is for innovation to help the 285 million people worldwide who have vision impairment, 80% of which is preventable or curable. Those who joined Mr. Mazzo in the "Masters of Industry" session included Flemming Ornskov, MD, Shire; Mike Ball, Alcon; Dr. Link, Versant Ventures, Ludwin Monz, PhD, Carl Zeiss Meditec; Mr. Meury, Allergan, and Ms. McEvoy, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care. The panelists discussed topics like breaking into the ophthalmic space; partnering inside industry or outside; expanding areas of focus; and the potential relationship with major tech companies like Google, IBM, and Amazon. EW Editors' note: The speakers have finan- cial interests with the companies they represent.

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