Article preview from Start-Up - August 2008
Transcend Medical is the first spin-off of ForSight Labs, an ophthalmology-focused incubator created by The Foundry. To treat glaucoma, Transcend's founders have developed a tiny device, the CyPass, that can be inserted with a needle in a patented procedure that only takes 5 to 10 minutes.
Article preview from Start-Up - August 2008
Transcend Medical Inc.
By Mary Stuart
A $4 billion pharmaceutical industry has arisen around the goal of lowering IOP in glaucoma patients, but despite the impressive sales figures, patients' compliance with existing glaucoma drug therapies is poor, partly because they're administered in the form of eyedrops that are uncomfortable, cumbersome, and inefficient in terms of getting drugs to their target. In many cases, patients need to take several different glaucoma medications, each of which needs to be administered up to three times per day, and patients must wait 10 minutes between drops to reduce drug washout. These are complicated requirements for a population that is heavily weighted toward the elderly; glaucoma is associated with advanced age. So, although it is crucial that patients comply with their prescriptions, they don't because of these difficulties and also because the urgency to do so isn't apparent, since glaucoma is asymptomatic. At periodic check-ups, the ophthalmologist might say, "Mrs. Smith, you've lost another 30% of your vision," but she will not have been aware of that gradual damage.
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Companies mentioned in this article:
Glaukos Corp.
NeoVista Inc.
Second Sight Medical Products Inc.
Solx Inc.
SurModics Inc.
Transcend Medical Inc.
iScience Interventional
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