ARTICLE SUMMARY:
The human eye naturally loses some of its ability to adjust focus at varying distances over time. While reading glasses are a common solution for this condition, known as presbyopia, many are reluctant to wear them due to their inconvenience or appearance. Allotex is filling a gap in the market of long-term surgical solutions for visual acuity with the first shelf-stable corneal implant sourced from human corneal tissue.
Almost every adult over 45 will eventually require reading glasses to correct deteriorating vision, an increasingly urgent goal as the market of aging people grows more familiar with electronic devices with touch screens and miniscule text. As millions already know firsthand, glasses can be fragile, easy to leave behind, and expensive to replace, not to mention associated with an unfortunate stigma. For these reasons, and in the interest of a more permanent solution, a greater segment of the population is turning to laser ocular surgery.
In 1985, David Muller, PhD, founded Summit Technology, the first company to offer a digital ophthalmic laser system for vision correction. (Alcon, then a subsidiary of Nestle, acquired the start-up in 2000). More recently, Muller started Avedro, a start-up company centered around corneal collagen cross-linking, which was sold to Glaukos Corp., adding to that company's catalogue of ophthalmic technologies. Now, his current venture Allotex Inc. may be able to bring corneal solutions full-circle.
