- Contact Lenses Designed for Today’s Digital World Enjoying Early Market Success
- More than 2,000 Fitting Sets Already in Use; Availability Expected to Triple by October
- Eye Care Professionals Invited to Experience the Lenses at Vision Expo West Booth MS9059
PLEASANTON, CALIF., September 14, 2016 — As Vision Expo West opens in Las Vegas this week, CooperVision, Inc. is preparing to meet with thousands of eye care professionals eager to learn more about its new Biofinity Energys™ contact lenses with Digital Zone Optics™ lens design. Combining breakthrough optical properties, a moisture-retaining material and a smooth, naturally wettable surface for long-lasting comfort, the patent-pending contact lenses were specifically created from the ground up for today’s digital world.
The offering, unveiled in late June, has produced considerable interest and demand in the U.S., which is the first country to have the product. More than 2,000 practices have already received fitting sets as part of a phased rollout, with thousands more expected over the next several weeks as CooperVision makes them widely available. As part of CooperVision’s exhibit at Vision Expo West (Booth MS9059), eye care professionals are invited to experience the novel lens for themselves.
Biofinity Energys™ contact lenses are designed for all-day wear, helping people’s eyes better adapt so they can seamlessly and continuously shift focus between digital devices and offline activities. Almost nine out of ten patients agree that Biofinity Energys lenses help their eyes not feel strained.1
Andrew J. Neukirch, O.D. of Carillon Vision Care in Glenview, Ill. was among the first optometrists to begin fitting the lens.
“Patients have been excited to be a part of something new and possibly game-changing, and are reporting less eye strain and fatigue at the end of the day after using their digital devices. It helps that the silicone hydrogel material and fitting ease are the same as Biofinity® sphere,” he said. “I plan on providing trials to nearly every spherical monthly contact lens patient in the practice and educating them on the potential benefits.”
Two elements are at the heart of the lens’ performance and unique optimization for digital device users:
- Digital Zone Optics™ lens design, the breakthrough that integrates multiple front-surface aspheric curves across the entire optical zone. These curves distribute power evenly, simulating more positive power in the center of the lens. This helps ease accommodative burden as wearers move their gaze from on-screen to off-screen and back with less effort.
- Aquaform® Technology, which attracts and binds water throughout the silicone hydrogel lens material (comfilcon A) to retain moisture and help with dryness even during times of reduced blinking, which is common with digital device use. Long silicone chains optimize oxygen transmissibility, and reduced silicone content results in a low modulus for softness and flexibility, enhancing comfort and fitting versatility.
The lenses also incorporate a smooth, naturally wettable surface design with a special rounded edge. This reduces conjunctival interaction, improving wearing comfort.
“Through our close partnership with eye care professionals worldwide, we understand their challenges in trying to have patients scale back their digital device use or change how they interact with screens, behaviors commonly associated with eye tiredness and dryness. Our belief was that innovative thinking could help find a better way,” said Michele Andrews, OD, Senior Director, North America Professional and Academic Affairs for CooperVision. “Biofinity Energys™ breaks new ground, with our research and development teams having discovered how to address both optical and comfort aspects in a contact lens that is worn all day.”
Historically, 90 percent of patients do not talk with their eye care professionals about interactions with digital devices2, leaving them to believe that tired and dry eyes are an inescapable part of modern life. Since the announcement of Biofinity Energys™ and its companion website – FightEyeFatigue.com – the company’s Professional Affairs and field representatives have already begun noticing a positive change within practices across the U.S.
Seven in ten adults experience symptoms that come with long hours of digital device usage3, yet the widespread condition is often dismissed as “normal” by a population that has become accustomed to a digital lifestyle2,4,5. Discomfort is most commonly felt after two or more hours in front of a digital screen, characterized by tiredness, dryness, and redness. Extended exposure to bright light, screen glare and longer periods of device use can contribute to the issue. This type of use can also create varying degrees of physical discomfort, and may also contribute to productivity loss, sluggishness and stress.
The issue doesn’t discriminate by age. More than a third of Millennials spend nine or more hours each day on digital devices3. Not surprisingly, 68 percent3 to 88 percent6 of this population report eye tiredness and dryness symptoms.
Biofinity Energys™ lenses are available in the same material (comfilcon A, 48% water content) and parameter range as Biofinity® sphere lenses, with an 8.6 mm base curve, 0.08 mm center thickness at -3.00D, and 14.0 mm diameter in sphere powers from +8.00 to -12.00. The Dk/t of Biofinity Energys™ is also the same as Biofinity® sphere (160 at -3.00D).
For more information, please visit http://coopervision.com/practitioner/our-products/biofinity-family/biofinity-energys
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About CooperVision
CooperVision, a unit of The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO), is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of soft contact lenses. The Company produces a full array of monthly, two-week and daily disposable contact lenses, all featuring advanced materials and optics. CooperVision has a strong heritage of solving the toughest vision challenges such as astigmatism and presbyopia; and offers the most complete collection of spherical, toric and multifocal products available. Through a combination of innovative products and focused practitioner support, the company brings a refreshing perspective to the marketplace, creating real advantages for customers and wearers. For more information, visit www.coopervision.com.
About The Cooper Companies
The Cooper Companies, Inc. ("Cooper") is a global medical device company publicly traded on the NYSE (NYSE:COO). Cooper is dedicated to being A Quality of Life Company™ with a focus on delivering shareholder value. Cooper operates through two business units, CooperVision and CooperSurgical. CooperVision brings a refreshing perspective on vision care with a commitment to developing a wide range of high-quality products for contact lens wearers and providing focused practitioner support. CooperSurgical is committed to advancing the health of families with its diversified portfolio of products and services focusing on women’s health, fertility and diagnostics. Headquartered in Pleasanton, CA, Cooper has approximately 10,000 employees with products sold in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.coopercos.com.
1 After two weeks and after one month of wear. Data on file.
2 The Vision Council. Eyes Overexposed: The Digital Device Dilemma - 2016 Digital Eye Strain Report.
3 The Vision Council. Hindsight is 20/20: Protecting Your Eyes from Digital Devices - 2015 Digital Eye Strain Report.
4 “Doctor, My Eyes… Are Tired!” Review of Optometry, May 15, 2016.
5 The Vision Council. DigitEYEzed: The Daily Impact of Digital Screens on the Eye Health of Americans - 2014 Digital Eye Strain Report.
6 YouGov European Eye Fatigue Study, April 2016.
Media Contact:
Mike McDougall, McDougall Communications for CooperVision, Inc.
mike@mcdougallpr.com or +1-585-545-1815 (mobile)