Ophthalmologists Implant First Visian Toric ICLs in the US

Toric Implantable Collamer Lens Provides Vision Correction for Patients with Myopia and Astigmatism

STAAR Surgical Company STAA, a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable lenses and companion delivery systems for the eye, today announced the first patient implants of the company's Visian Toric Implantable Collamer Lenses (TICLs) in the U.S. by Brinton Vision in St. Louis, Missouri, and Parkhurst NuVision in San Antonio, Texas. A select group of leading surgeons around the country began implanting TICLs soon thereafter, including Dr. Paul Dougherty in Los Angeles and Dr. Scott Perkins in Phoenix. The TICL was approved in the U.S. by the FDA on September 13, 2018, and the first patient implants occurred on October 22, 2018. The Visian TICL has been approved and available for patients outside of the U.S. since 2002.

"The Visian Toric ICL is big news for refractive surgeons and astigmatic patients in the U.S.," said Jason P. Brinton, MD, Founder of Brinton Vision, upon his return from speaking in Chicago in connection with the recent American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Congress. "The Toric ICL offers an excellent vision correction option for new patients and a number of our patients who were previously unable to have a refractive vision correction procedure. My first patient was a 37-year-old truck driver with 20/50 vision and several diopters of astigmatism prior to the ICL procedure. Just one day after implanting the ICL his vision improved to 20/16, and he now has lenses that may outlast him. He's delighted with his vision outcome and that he no longer needs eyeglasses."

"The Visian ICL is an ideal vision correction procedure for a good portion of the public," said Gregory D. Parkhurst, MD, FACS, Physician-CEO of Parkhurst NuVision, upon his return from speaking in Chicago in connection with the recent AAO Congress. "The wait is over for this bio-compatible lens, implanted during a minimally invasive, typically brief 20-minute procedure with short recovery time. My first patient was a mother of three from Michigan who was dependent on eyeglasses and daily or monthly disposable contact lenses. She is now free from eyeglasses and disposable contact lenses, describing her ICL experience as completely changing her life for the better. She is just one of the millions of patients we believe can benefit from the Visian ICL family of lenses."

The Visian Toric ICL lens in the U.S. is indicated for patients 21-45 years of age for the correction of myopic astigmatism with spherical equivalent ranging from -3.0 D to ≤ -15.0 D (in the spectacle plane) with cylinder (spectacle plane) of 1.0 D to 4.0 D in the spectacle plane. The Visian ICL family of lens are intended for placement in the posterior chamber of the eye without removing corneal tissue or the natural crystalline lens.

"We are thrilled U.S. based ophthalmologists and their patients now have access to the TICL as STAAR Surgical marches towards a 1,000,000-lens sales milestone for its Visian ICL family of lenses," stated Caren Mason, President and CEO of STAAR Surgical Company. "The Visian ICL family of lenses offer patients visual freedom from spectacles and disposable contact lenses. The first Toric implants in the U.S. represent the initial steps in onboarding surgeons as we introduce this lens to more than 50 U.S. markets in the coming months."

About STAAR Surgical

STAAR, which has been dedicated solely to ophthalmic surgery for over 30 years, designs, develops, manufactures and markets implantable lenses for the eye with companion delivery systems. These lenses are intended to provide visual freedom for patients, lessening or eliminating the reliance on glasses or contact lenses. All of these lenses are foldable, which permits the surgeon to insert them through a small incision. STAAR's lens used in refractive surgery is called an Implantable Collamer® Lens or "ICL," which includes the EVO Visian ICL™ product line. More than 900,000 Visian ICLs have been implanted to date. To learn more about the ICL go to: www.discovericl.com. STAAR has approximately 400 full-time equivalent employees and markets lenses in over 75 countries. Headquartered in Monrovia, CA, the company operates manufacturing facilities in Aliso Viejo, CA, and Monrovia, CA. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.staar.com.

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