Contact lens technology in focus

Getting more people to select contact lenses as their vision correction tool of choice is the aim of a new partnership.

The Australian non-profit organisation, Brien Holden Vision Institute, will collaborate on researching and developing new contact lens technologies with the Japanese contact lens manufacturer, Seed.

There are about 130 million contact lens wearers globally, which is a relatively small number compared to the several billion people who are estimated to require vision correction.

Brien Holden Vision Institute chief executive officer, Professor Kovin Naidoo, highlighted to OT that the move would help to give the organisation’s work a global impact.

“We are thrilled that Seed saw a strong commercial opportunity to exploit our research and development capabilities and deliver what we believe will be superior products to consumers,” he emphasised.

Proprietary technology developed in the laboratory and tested in clinical trials would be further developed through the collaboration, he added.

The new technologies would have a particular focus on near vision correction using contact lenses, according to the organisation.

Seed chief executive officer and president, Masahiro Urakabe, told OT that new technology developed through the partnership would meet a wider range of contact lens wearer needs.

“The start of this new collaboration is a very exciting opportunity to deliver the next generation of contact lenses,” Mr Urakabe highlighted.

Seed delivers a wide range of contact lens products, including RPG lenses, soft conventional lenses and daily disposable contact lenses. The company, which has a 60-year history in Japan, has a daily disposable contact lens production capacity of 32.5m lenses per month.

Image credit: Laurence Derbyshire