EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
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50 EW MEETING REPORTER Reporting live from AAO/APAO 2012, Chicago December 2012 View this video at www.EWrePlay.org/ AAO2012 Sonia H. Yoo, M.D., Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Fla., gave a keynote address at Friday���s Refractive Subspecialty Day on corneal presbyopic surgery, including corneal inlays that are showing promising results. Other procedures she reviewed are conductive keratoplasty with femtosecond laser stromal ablations and Excimer laser ablations, including laser blended vision. Neurological and Physical Medicine, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, FDA. ���I am delighted to announce today that exactly 1 week ago, my division underwent reorganization. Essentially my division is now split into two separate divisions: Division of Ophthalmic and Ear, Nose and Throat Devices, and Division of Neurological and Physical Medicine,��� she said. At a panel discussion about the new act, she said physicians and industry officials should contact her by email or visit the FDA website with any questions. Private pharma developing new products Editors��� note: This Meeting Reporter contains original reporting by the EyeWorld news team from AAO/APAO 2012, Chicago. New drug and delivery methods offer the potential for novel treatments in ophthalmic diseases including glaucoma and retina, speakers at a pharma showcase said. Eleven CEOs and one CMO from the private pharmaceutical industry presented overviews of products currently in development. Drugs and delivery methods for different subspecialties were highlighted. Thomas van Haarlem, M.D., president and CEO, Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Bedminster, N.J., discussed AR-12286, a selective Rho-kinase (ROCK) inhibitor. The drug would introduce a new class of medication for glaucoma therapy, along with additional offerings in the pipeline by the company in glaucoma medication. The company recently released positive Phase IIa results with AR12286 in fixed combination with Travatan (travoprost, Alcon). ���We believe it has the potential to become first-line standard of care in the future,��� Dr. van Haarlem said. ���We���re hopefully going to contribute three new treatment options for the future treatment of glaucoma.��� Another offering in the posterior segment was MacuCLEAR���s (Plano, Texas) drug MC-1101, a novel preservative-free treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration. The novel compound is delivered through eye drops. ���We���re now in a Phase III trial,��� said Philip G. Ralston Jr., CEO. Friday, Nov. 9, 2012 Keynote talks focus on presbyopia and its future treatments During Refractive Subspecialty Day preceding the joint meeting of AAOAPAO, both keynote lectures focused on presbyopic surgery. ���We don���t understand the mechanisms of presbyopia very well,��� said Sonia Yoo, M.D., Miami. Dr. Yoo said there are about 90 million presbyopes in the U.S., and there are more than a billion worldwide. Surgery for presbyopia can be either corneal or crystalline lensbased surgery, and the choice would depend on the patient���s age, visual needs, what activities the patient enjoys, and lens status, she said. ���We have a number of new different corneal surgeries for presbyopia that are on the horizon,��� Dr. Yoo said. Daniel Durrie, M.D., Overland Park, Kan., meanwhile, stressed the importance of looking at new options for presbyopia treatment to learn about and adopt the newest technologies quickly. He said that 99.8% of the present market for presbyopia is not being addressed. ���We have the largest unmet need in surgical ophthalmology in presbyopia,��� Dr. Durrie said. Presbyopia is the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, and ���this creates a huge opportunity for presbyopic surgeons,��� he said. Dr. Durrie called for constant improvement of presbyopic treatment because of the growing need for efficiency, fast healing, shorter follow-up, and attention to experience in addition to outcome. Editors��� note: Dr. Yoo has financial interests with Alcon, Allergan, Bausch + Lomb Surgical, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Genentech, OptiMedica, SLACK, and Transcend Medical. Dr. Durrie has financial interests with Abbott Medical Optics, Accelerated Vision, AcuFocus, Alcon, Allergan, Avedro, Nexis Vision, Revital Vision, Wavetec, and Ziemer. Surgeon reveals results of new wavefront-guided aberrometer Steven Schallhorn, M.D., San Diego, presented on the initial results of a new wavefront-guided LASIK procedure. The results included primary wavefront-guided femtosecond LASIK in 12 eyes of 6 patients using a novel aberrometer for 1 week. ���The procedure we did was with a new wavefront aberrometer,��� Dr. Schallhorn said. The initial results of the procedure had a reduction in the pre-op