Second Sight Medical Products Spikes 10% Following Health Canada Approval

Second Sight Medical Products Inc EYES spiked up over 10 percent Monday following an announcement that Health Canada has approved the company’s Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System to treat individuals with severe to profound outer retinal degeneration.

According to the company’s press release, the Argus II has been implanted in more than 100 individuals worldwide and is the only retinal prosthesis approved by Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the first approved retinal prosthesis in the world.

The system induces visual perception in blind individuals by providing electrical pulses to stimulate the retina’s remaining cells, resulting in a perception of light patterns in the brain.

“This regulatory approval and the first implants of the Argus II in Canada are tremendous milestones, not only for Second Sight, but also for those affected by outer retinal degenerations in Canada,” stated Robert Greenberg, MD, PhD, president and CEO of Second Sight.

After spiking at the open, shares of Second Sight Medical Products pulled back and recently traded at $11.80, up 8.8 percent.