Novartis' Alcon unit buys intraocular lens developer PowerVision

Novartis' Alcon unit announced Monday that it acquired PowerVision for $285 million, adding the latter's fluid-based accommodating intraocular lenses (IOL) for cataract surgery patients. Under the terms of the agreement, PowerVision is eligible to receive additional payments based on specified regulatory and commercial milestones starting in 2023.  

According to Alcon, the design of PowerVision's lens utilises the eye's natural accommodating response to transport fluid in the intraocular lens, which is implanted in the eye's capsular bag. PowerVision's fluid-based technology differs from the conventional multifocal design used in most presbyopia-correcting IOLs as it creates a "continuously variable monofocal lens" that allows patients "to actively focus on objects, just as the natural crystalline lens does in a youthful eye, providing [them] with a natural, continuous range of vision," the company said.

Alcon noted that the "commercial availability of PowerVision's IOL technology will be determined following significant additional development and clinical trials of the intraocular lens." Michael Onuscheck, president of global business and innovation at Novartis' eye-care unit, commented that "by treating cataracts and restoring natural, continuous range of vision, this intraocular lens may be the preferred IOL for cataract surgery patients who desire spectacle independence."

Meanwhile, Alcon said it is maintaining the financial outlook it provided last November to make "steady" core operating margin improvements to industry benchmark levels, from the high teens currently to the low-to-mid-20s by 2023. Earlier this year, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said Alcon's planned spin-off to a standalone company remains on track for the first half of the year.