Giant pyramid of CET

The Mentholatum Company launched its first eye care product in Europe with two meetings recently, the first at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. The company is part of Rohto Pharmaceuticals, Japan's third largest over-the-counter pharmaceutical company and the world's leading consumer eye drop company.

Andrew Tasker, managing director of Mentholatum welcomed delegates and pointed out that of the £70m worth of retail sales of eye drops in the UK, the optical channel currently only realised about 4-5 per cent of that value.

Keynote speaker at the events was ophthalmologist and Eye Bag inventor Teifi James, who outlined the latest thinking in the management of dry eye. James described the incidence of dry eye by showing a picture of the Great Pyramid, stating that the cap at the top represented the severe dry eye cases managed in hospitals and specialist clinics and the rest of the pyramid as all the other people who need support for their condition and are either undiagnosed, self-medicating or poorly managed by their GP or eye care professional.