Menicon Co., Ltd. (Menicon) and David Thomas Contact Lenses Ltd. (DTCL), a U.K. custom contact lens manufacturer, announced that the two companies reached agreement on November 16, 2009 for Menicon to acquire 100% of the ownership of DTCL. The acquisition of DTCL will enable Menicon to build on DTCL's successful business in the U.K. and abroad. Menicon has an important presence in the European rigid gas permeable lens and lens care market, though not in the U.K. The existing directors and staff will remain with DTCL and customers will continue to receive the same levels of service as before. All existing DTCL products will continue to be available and, over time, other products from Menicon will be introduced through DTCL, including Menicon's growing range of soft contact lenses.
     Mr. William Thomas, Managing Director of DTCL, commented, "We are very excited and pleased about the acquisition as it will bring additional skills, expertise and resources to enable DTCL to continue growing and innovating in the custom contact lens field. We see the acquisition as a new beginning, which will strengthen DTCL and make available to our customers an exciting new range of products."
     Dr. Hiderani Tanaka, President of Menicon, added, "We have watched David Thomas Contact Lenses evolve into a leading specialty lens manufacturer in the U.K. and we see great potential to work together with DTCL to grow Menicon's business in this very important market. The quality of its products and the business model fits very well into our company culture. We are extremely pleased to be able to work with William Thomas and his excellent team in Northampton to further grow their specialty business while taking on the responsibility for growing Menicon's U.K. business. I am confident that both Menicon and DTCL will benefit substantially from the synergy of working together as part of the same family." 

A new group is seeking eyecare professionals, presently providing prosthetic soft contact lenses to their patients, who are interested in joining an International Prosthetic Lens Society. The goal is to provide an international web based referral source for both prospective patients and professionals seeking an eyecare specialist providing prosthetic lenses. An informal meeting is scheduled during the Global Specialty Lens Symposium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, January 30, 2010. Please respond to Mitch Cassel at mitch.cassel@gmail.com for more information.

Patients wearing contact lenses for astigmatism feel the lens sometimes rotates on the eye, resulting in blurry vision. The Accelerated Stabilization Design (ASD) of ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand Contact Lenses for ASTIGMATISM provides greater stability by harnessing the pressure of the blink. ASD has four zones of stability to help maintain the position of the lens, resulting in more consistent visual acuity during repetitive eye movements and throughout everyday activities. So with ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand for ASTIGMATISM, you provide your astigmatic patients with stable, crisp vision throughout their day.
For more information, click here.

ACUVUE® Brand Contact Lenses are indicated for vision correction. As with any contact lens, eye problems, including corneal ulcers, can develop. Some wearers may experience mild irritation, itching or discomfort. Lenses should not be prescribed if patients have any eye infection, or experience eye discomfort, excessive tearing, vision changes, redness or other eye problems. Consult the package insert for complete information. Complete information is also available from VISTAKON®, Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., by calling 1-800-843-2020 or by visiting jnjvisioncare.com.
     ACUVUE®, ACUVUE® OASYS™, and VISTAKON® are trademarks of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
©Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. 2009.

--ADVERTISING

Lensco, a distributor and manufacturer of a full-range of optical goods, announced that they will be providing eyecare providers with free shipping on all manufacturers' annual supply orders mailed directly to the patient's home or office.
     Mike Hodges, Vice President of Operations at Lensco stated, "Last month we conducted a Customer Service Survey and while we received a lot of positive feedback, we also noticed some concern regarding shipping prices on our annual supplies. By providing free shipping, this is one way Lensco can help our small business partners endure this challenging economic cycle."
     For more information, visit www.lensco.com. 

A new survey from the American Optometric Association (AOA) shows a concerning lack of public knowledge and misunderstanding regarding age-related eye diseases and conditions.
     According to the AOA's American Eye-Q survey, which assesses public knowledge and understanding of issues related to eye and visual health, only 18% of Americans know that macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in adults 65 years of age and older, and less than a quarter of all Americans understand the effects of glaucoma. Even more concerning, 89% of Americans incorrectly believe that glaucoma is preventable, when in fact it is only treatable if caught early.
     The survey also showed that top concerns about the effects of vision problems include not being able to live independently, cited by 45%; not being able to see loved ones, 21%; being unable to read, 20% and losing the ability to drive, 11%.
     The good news is the majority of the survey respondents (92%) understand that visiting an eye doctor on a regular basis for comprehensive eye exams can help reduce the risk of developing age-related vision problems. The bad news is that respondents were less aware that avoiding smoking (40%) and eating a low-fat, low-salt diet (30%) can also reduce age-related vision problems.
     The fourth annual American Eye-Q survey was created and commissioned in conjunction with Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates (PSB). From May 21-24, 2009, using an online methodology, PSB interviewed 1,000 Americans 18 years and older who embodied a nationally representative sample of U.S. general population. (Margin of error at 95% confidence level.)

Plan now to attend the Global Specialty Lens Symposium in January 2010. With an expert international faculty and a CE-accredited agenda, the 2010 GSLS will include insightful presentations by experts in the field, hands-on demonstrations of cutting-edge products as well as scientific papers and posters. Look for more detailed information in future issues of Contact Lens Spectrum and online at www.GSLSymposium.com.
--ADVERTISING

The Healthy Eyes for Life Foundation announced that effective December 1, 2009, R. Michael Daley will serve as President of the organization.
     Daley began his career in the optical industry over 40 years ago. He was president and COO of Essilor of America's United States Lens Division, known as Essilor Lenses and retired in 2008. He currently serves on numerous boards and councils, including The Vision Council, Prevent Blindness America and the American Optometric Association Ophthalmic Council.
     Daley will be responsible for working with the foundation's marketing committee to formulate the vision health care message and to develop strategies to create public awareness for the need for vision health care. He will also collaborate with the funding committee to develop and execute a fundraising strategy, and serve as the Healthy Eyes for Life Foundation spokesman.
     The Healthy Eyes for Life Foundation was formed as a result of the Eye Health Summit, a first-of-its-kind event that drew together over 110 vision community representatives to begin the process of building a strong consensus among interested parties/stakeholders on a public health/eye health message.
     For more information, visit www.eyehealthsummit.com. 

The purpose of this study was to identify potential protein biomarkers associated with dry eye in contact lens wearers. Upon enrollment, current galyfilcon A contact lens wearers completed a questionnaire used to classify dry eye status. Approximately 5 muL of aqueous tears were carefully sampled from the inferior-lateral tear prism of each eye using glass microcapillaries. A variety of proteomic approaches were used to compare samples including quantification by Bradford analyses, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) (alone in varying percentages and with MultiPlex analyses for posttranslational modifications), nano-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC-MS/MS), and differential gel electrophoresis.
     Twenty-one subjects were enrolled in the study (age 31.3 +/- 11.6 years). Eleven of the subjects were classified with contact lens-related dry eye, while the remaining 10 were normal contact lens wearers. Across all proteomic approaches, several proteins (including several glycoproteins) were identified as potential biomarkers associated with dry eye disease state. In summary across the approaches used, extracellular proteins identified to be altered included beta-2 microglobulin, proline rich 4, lacritin, and secretoglobin 1D1, which were found to be decreased in the dry eye state. Secretoglobin 2A2, serum albumin, glycoprotein 340, and prolactin-inducible protein were all found to be increased in the dry eye state.
     The researchers concluded that dry eye in contact lens wearers is related to several changes in the tear film protein. While functional studies for these candidate proteins are ongoing, initial insights into the functions of these proteins suggest roles in altered tear secretion, in addition to possible increased susceptibility to infection.
Nichols JJ, Green-Church KB. Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomic Analyses in Contact Lens-Related Dry Eye. Cornea 2009. 

It is our tradition to provide an annual report in the January issue of Contact Lens Spectrum to summarize the events of the last year in the field of contact lenses. Topics we usually discuss include trends in the industry, changes in lens materials or designs, formulations, and indications, as well as major newsworthy events. We also traditionally select an "Event of the Year" which is difficult to do, but we choose something we consider to be the landmark issue or event that has had or will have a major impact on our field. I would like to know your nominations for the "Event of the Year." What events or issues occurred in 2009 that you consider to be critical to our field? Please send your thoughts and feedback to me at jnichols@optometry.osu.edu.
Jason J. Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, FAAO