Abbott Acquires Privately Held Visiogen; Expands Vision Care Business

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced that it has completed its acquisition of privately held eye care company Visiogen, expanding the company's vision care business with a next-generation accommodating intraocular lens (IOL) technology to address presbyopia for cataract patients.

Visiogen's Synchrony® accommodating IOL is a significant advancement in artificial lens technology. It is designed to mimic the eye's natural ability to change focus (accommodation), delivering improved vision at all distances, potentially eliminating the need for glasses or contact lenses, reducing glare and nighttime halos, and improving contrast sensitivity.

Abbott's $400 million cash purchase of Visiogen boosts the company's presence in the vision care segment, which it entered in February 2009 with its acquisition of Advanced Medical Optics. Abbott Medical Optics offers a range of cataract, refractive and corneal products designed to meet the needs of patients who suffer from a wide range of vision disorders and seek greater freedom from the limitations of eyeglasses.

"Visiogen immediately provides Abbott Medical Optics with a talented team of dedicated professionals and an entry point into the accommodating IOL market," said Jim Mazzo, senior vice president, Abbott Medical Optics. "The innovative Synchrony accommodating IOL expands our diverse portfolio of cataract treatments and allows Abbott the opportunity to help the more than 1 billion people worldwide suffering from presbyopia."

Synchrony has received CE mark designation and has been available commercially in Europe since January 2009. It also is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Intraocular lenses are implanted in a patient's eye after the removal of the natural lens that has become clouded by a cataract. Conventional monofocal IOLs are designed to focus primarily at a distance and not to correct presbyopia, an age-related change in vision in which the eye's lens can no longer adjust its focal length to allow clear vision at different distances.