In the comfort zone

Those companies that did exhibit had plenty to talk about. Although the emphasis was on service, supply and practitioner support, there were several new products introduced at the show, particularly in the daily disposable sector. Others were waiting until the end of this month to launch their products at the BCLA conference in Manchester.

Improved daily disposable lenses were again one of the key trends. With a new design and material, Bausch & Lomb's SofLens daily disposable is the latest in the new generation of single-use lenses. The lens has an aspheric front surface and is designed to control spherical aberration across all powers. The hilafilcon B material has a water content of 59 per cent, compared to 70 per cent for the previous lens, SofLens One Day, for better comfort and handling.

Professional services and clinical affairs manager Cheryl Donnelly said the key features were improved visual quality, all-day comfort and reduced lens tearing. Comfort was achieved through less protein uptake and deposition, a thin central zone, reduced lens mass, and by poloxamine from the storage solution coating the lens.

B&L was also demonstrating an improved online ordering system for all its vision care products, with free delivery and the facility to keep track of orders and inventory levels.

Two Tower Optics reported high levels of interest in the Safegel 1 day lens from Safilens, distributed in the UK by No7 and officially launched at the show. This lens uses a different approach to improving on-eye comfort through its material properties and thin lens design.

Safegel 1 day is manufactured from a bipolymer of filcon IV and sodium hyaluronate, creating a hyaluronate gel. Sodium hyaluronate, a natural polymer used in eye drops and re-wetting drops, is incorporated within the lens matrix and slowly released from the lens to replenish the tear film during wear. The material is also said to maintain water content and transmissibility on the eye.

Time for torics

Lenses and solutions on the Sauflon stand included three recently introduced products. Bioclear and Bioclear Toric are filcon IV lenses incorporating a biomimetic additive, AquAtract, to attract and retain water on the lens surface and improve comfort.

Bioclear Toric, Sauflon's first toric lens, features an aspheric front surface and smooth transition between zones. According to UK sales director Bradley Wells, the aim was to combine a new material and design with updated manufacturing technology to meet the criteria practitioners were looking for in a toric: comfort, vision and stabilisation.

For Wells, torics are the biggest growth area in the market today. He saw the Bioclear launch as an important step in raising Sauflon's profile as a company making lenses as well as solutions, and in bridging the gap between standard and premium products. Also performing well was Sauflon Synergi, a preservative-free MPS developed for use with silicone hydrogels and launched last year. A daily wear silicone hydrogel lens would soon be the next addition to the company's portfolio, said Wells.

On the Johnson & Johnson Vision Care stand, the emphasis was on astigmatism and the design features of its 1-Day Acuvue for Astigmatism and Acuvue Advance for Astigmatism brands. Both lenses use the company's proprietary Accelerated Stabilisation Design which is said to harness the natural pressure of the blink to prevent the lens from rotating on the eye. Optrafair visitors could opt to be spun in a gyroscope to demonstrate the stability of the lens design and its gravity-defying properties.

David Ruston, director, professional affairs for UK and Ireland, said the design was the result of extensive research into lens/eyelid interaction that would be presented at this year's BCLA conference. The aim was to help practitioners understand how lenses performed in real-life situations 'beyond the consulting room'.

To support the practitioner, J&J launched a new consumer magazine for reception use, to explain astigmatism and how it could be corrected. The magazine will be accompanied by a consumer PR campaign to raise awareness of astigmatism. Tips on fitting toric lenses and information about new dates for J&J's Business Building Programme seminars were also available on the stand.

CIBA Vision had taken a different approach to this year's Optrafair by discussing various methods to help practitioners develop their practices rather than promoting specific products.

One of three presentations on the stand looked at 'ranging', the process by which practices could stock the right products to meet all their customers' needs and add value to their services. Working with a ranging consultant, CIBA had used market data and the ACORN consumer classification to develop a model for the optimum category range.

The company also introduced an online demonstration of its professional fees model, presented at a series of seminars last year, and a free training DVD and booklet for optical assistants by training specialist Sarah Morgan.

Sale and supply

Elsewhere at the show, talk turned to developments in the new supply routes for contact lenses.

Eye 2 Eye Contactz, exhibiting at Optrafair for the first time, supplies plano cosmetic lenses and solutions, mainly via over-the-counter sales in pharmacies, but MD Shen Sidana said that more and more of its business was through independent optical practices.

The Eye 2 Eye Contactz plano lenses, made in Korea, include seven colours and three tones and are packaged with solution and storage case. The current range also includes two multipurpose solutions, soft lens comfort drops and eye brightening drops.

This month the company launched powered cosmetic lenses and, according to its brochure, will be introducing 'extended wear coloured, clear and daily disposable' prescription lenses in the coming months. Chloramphenicol eye drops, eye wash and a range of ready-readers are also in the pipeline. 'We want to be a one-stop shop for all contact lens needs and give [practitioners] what we feel is lacking in the market,' he said.

Commenting on reports that the Eye 2 Eye Contactz plano range - which the company maintains are 'eye accessories' for cosmetic use only - are available through outlets such as gift shops, Sidana said he did not condone the sale of his products through such outlets. 'I'm not happy about the product ending up where it sometimes ends up. We're doing everything we can in the most ethical way possible,' he added.

Frame distributor Vision-Eyecare showed the Korea-made Bescon range of plano cosmetic contact lenses, available only through optical practices.

Daily disposable manufacturer daysoft is a another company that has attracted controversy over its supply routes, by selling lenses direct to the consumer and replacing wearers' prescribed lenses with its daysoft 58 and daysoft 72 brands.

At Optrafair, the company released data on the first 2m contact lenses sold online by daysoft direct. Nearly half of online orders via daysoft-direct (48 per cent) came from prescriptions issued from Specsavers and a third from Dollond & Aitchison (11 per cent), Vision Express (10 per cent) and Boots (10 per cent) combined. Optical Express customers accounted for 7 per cent of orders and 9 per cent originated in supermarkets. Five per cent came from other sources.

Continental approach

Two companies with strong bases in continental Europe were looking to build a presence in the UK. A first-time exhibitor at Optrafair, Spanish care product manufacturer Avizor has exhibited at the BCLA conference since 2005 and its products are currently distributed here through Sigma Eyewear.

The company's Ever Clean solution is a preservative-free peroxide system, and it also carries a range of MPS, cleaning and comfort drops. Avizor's Jorge Perez said there was a noticeable move back to peroxide at the moment amid concerns about solution efficacy, a trend that was mentioned elsewhere at the show.

Rome-based Shalcon has been in the contact lens business for 30 years, manufactures and supplies a wide range of lenses and care products, and is the leading company for private label in Italy. Federica Messaro explained that Optrafair was Shalcon's first presence in the UK, where it was now seeking a distributor.

New for 2007, was a preservative-free, single-dose version of its Universale Plus MPS. But the most eye-catching line was the 400ml and 150ml formats for the same solution which come with an integral anti-bacterial storage case that slots into the side of the transparent bottle - a simple idea but giving a conventional product a very different look.

Back at Optrafair after a six-year absence, it fell to Sussex-based Prospect Lenses to fly the flag for the independent laboratory. Director Gerry Cahill said the company had taken advantage of the lack of medium-sized and smaller companies to attend. He reported interest in the Optimum RGP range and a move back towards greater use of fitting sets. Kentoptic was the final exhibitor in this sector, as wholesaler for the major solutions brands.