Eyeworld

EW ASCRS•ASOA 2018 40 ASCRS•ASOA program preview • April 13–17, 2018 by Liz Hillman EyeWorld Staff Writer new companies. Spotlight sessions of the meeting will include dry eye and microinvasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS). Two new sessions this year will focus on next generation femto lasers, and reimbursement and how companies are dealing with some of the opportunities and challenges. The meeting will also cover topics of private and public financing mar- kets, feature a "fireside chat session" with the FDA, and wrap up with the reoccurring Masters of Industry panel of strategic leaders. According to Dr. Kliman, the meeting offers those from industry broad exposure to upcoming com- panies and marketplace dynamics; ophthalmologist attendees receive insights into how to build their practices through adding new tech- nologies that are available now and in the future. Dr. Cunningham said he would like to see federal govern- ment employees attending the meet- ing this year, due to its proximity to the nation's capital. "It's good for them to hear the unfettered, outside perspectives," Dr. Cunningham said of how he thinks federal employees might benefit from OIS. "There is more innovation than ever in ophthalmology with so many great companies making ter- rific progress, it is hard to pick some favorites," Dr. Kliman said when asked what he was most excited about in the realm of ophthalmic in- novation in 2018. "I am excited by the continued commercial growth of the MIGS space pioneered by Glau- kos [San Clemente, California] and by the continued brisk pace of land- mark FDA approvals, including from Rx Sight [Aliso Viejo, California] and Avedro [Waltham, Massachusetts], which are both game-changing, nov- el innovations impacting ophthal- mology practices." EW Contact information Cunningham: ecunningham@clarusfunds.com Kliman: gkliman@interwest.com Breakfast breakouts, reoccurring sessions, new features, and more T he Ophthalmology Inno- vation Summit (OIS) is ex- pected to draw up to 1,000 attendees for its seventh OIS@ASCRS, which will take place in Washington, D.C., on April 12, ahead of the ASCRS•ASOA Annual Meeting. "OIS is the only time in the ophthalmology calendar when large companies, small companies, ophthalmologists, bankers, venture capitalists, academics, and even the U.S. FDA get together at the same meeting," said Gilbert Kliman, MD, InterWest Partners, Menlo Park, Cal- ifornia, and co-chair of OIS@ASCRS. "Amazing things happen when you have the 'smartest people in the room' all in the same room." Since the first OIS@ASCRS in 2012, Dr. Kliman said the event has grown each year as the lead- ing meeting where companies present and provide updates on their innovative projects and those with strategic interests learn about what's coming down the pipeline in ophthalmology. The meeting, Dr. Kliman continued, is "more relevant than ever as the number of innova- tions has proliferated and the FDA is speeding up." Emmett Cunningham Jr., MD, Clarus Funds, Cambridge, Massachu- setts, co-chair of OIS@ASCRS, said that while the structure and style of the meeting—along with the goal of "bringing together the entrepreneurs with the investors and the larger strategic companies that are inter- ested in innovation"—has remained the same over the years, the compa- nies and topics might vary based on what's relevant and timely. This year, the meeting will start with breakfast breakouts covering dry eye, glaucoma, presbyopia, ocular gene therapy applications, and advances in cataract surgery. Following, William Link, PhD, Versant Ventures, San Francisco, co-chair of OIS@ASCRS, will deliver the meeting's kick-off update, which will lead into the traditional compa- ny showcase, featuring a number of March 2018 Seventh annual OIS@ASCRS heads to D.C. KITARO Complex Lab to learn complicated cases. Practice Makes Perfect! "KITARO" Surgical Training System KITAROWet Lab Self-Sealing Wound Construction CCC CCC Self-Sealing Wound Construction Capsule Rupture Management Phacoemulsification Phaco chop/ Prechop Technique Basic Instrumentation www.frontiervision.co.jp Email:info@frontiervision.co.jp Visit us at ASCRS Booth 2110 Kitaro Lab Kits offer surgeons the ability to practice various procedures and techniques repeatedly using synthetic but realisticmaterialswithoutcomplicatedpreparationandexpensive consumablegoodssuchasthoseneededforporcinewetlabs. www.fci-ophthalmics.com www.fci.fr KITARODryLab

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