Mike Hale: What was your background in healthcare with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) prior to becoming general manager for the UK business?
Chirag Amin: I began my career at J&J nearly 19 years ago in a sales position in the UK. The next step was management and marketing roles within the MedTech sector, including leading regional marketing for Asia-Pacific (APAC) and, more recently, leading a large business in Japan.
MH: How does your experience in the MedTech area of the J&J business inform your approach to the Vision Care division in the UK?
CA J&J’s approach to business has its roots in our credo, a set of guiding principles that place the patient and healthcare professionals at the centre of our thinking. This forms the basis of how I remain focused on eye care professionals (ECPs) and consumers and guides my priorities.
Complementary to that is ensuring I take time to know and respect the nuances that make the J&J Vision UK business and customers unique. Between staying customer-centric and respecting the environment I have entered, I feel positive decisions can be made.
Practices outside of optics can be layered into current ways of working and best industry standards. The MedTech industry is not static, things move quickly in this dynamic space and J&J Vision strives to be equally dynamic and open to new ideas.
At J&J Vision in the UK and Ireland, our approach is shaped by a belief that we need to support the end-to-end customer journey, inclusive of optometrists and eye care professionals, guiding patients in understanding how contact lens technologies, such as the Acuvue Oasys Max 1-Day range, can provide consumers with the best solution for their vision needs.
MH: Why did J&J recently commission a survey of 2,000 urban dwellers without perfect vision in the UK?
CA At J&J, we believe that sight is precious and should be considered an integral part of whole health. Vision plays a key role in how we experience the world, learn and create memories, and it’s something many fear losing the most. As the most dominant of the five senses, sight influences nearly every facet of our lives.1
Yet, despite its importance, we know that many people neglect regular eye checkups, often leaving eye conditions undiagnosed and untreated.2 This is surprising, given that vision is an empowering sense that enables us to live life to the fullest.
Unfortunately, acceptance of compromised vision can significantly limit freedom, confidence and comfort. These challenges are further compounded by the demands of our modern and increasingly digital lifestyles, where prolonged screen time and technology use often lead to ocular discomfort, making everyday life even more difficult for those without perfect vision.
To better understand this issue, we commissioned a survey to elevate eye health awareness and bring into view exactly how many UK urban dwellers without perfect vision are simply putting up with their discomfort, rather than seeking eye care.
Our goal is to address this unmet need by encouraging British people with busy lives and tired eyes to prioritise their eye health. It starts with something as simple as an eye checkup, which can open the door to transformative solutions like contact lenses that provide maximum clarity and comfort.
MH: What were the findings of the survey?
CA The findings revealed that over half of Britons (58%) feel frustrated with their eyesight, and nearly one in three (31%) are dissatisfied with not being able to see the world as clearly as they’d like.³
This dissatisfaction is more than just a feeling; it affects daily life. Many people report that compromised vision holds them back from fully engaging in everyday activities, such as spending time in front of screens, reading, participating in sports, or even recognising faces. It also leads to tired eyes, which further impacts their ability to live life to the fullest.
Confidence is another area impacted, with nearly one in four people (23%) saying their visual limitations reduce their self-assurance, causing them to avoid activities they might otherwise enjoy.3
The survey shines a light on the broader impact of impaired vision – how it limits freedom, confidence and comfort in day-to-day life. Alarmingly, despite these challenges, a quarter of people living with compromised eyesight admit they take no steps to improve their eye health.³
This brings into focus just how many people are missing out on life’s enriching moments due to compromised vision and highlights the need for greater awareness and action when it comes to prioritising vision care. Eye care solutions, such as contact lenses, can offer exceptional comfort and clarity, helping individuals live life without limitations. It all starts with prioritising optimal vision and visiting an optician to identify optical needs and find the right solutions.
MH: How do you assess the current state and needs of the UK contact lens market?
CA The UK eyewear category (including glasses and contact lenses) is forecasted to grow by over £534m, or 10%, within the next five years.4 This signals a significant opportunity for the contact lens segment to capture a larger share of this expanding market.
As the UK population continues to age, presbyopia is set to become a key driver of demand. This trend underscores the importance of offering advanced contact lens solutions tailored to the needs of older consumers, a segment poised for substantial growth.
Currently, 78% of the UK adult (15 to 64 years old) population (33m) need vision correction, yet only 15% (5m) currently wear contact lenses.5 This highlights a significant untapped market of potential contact lens wearers who could benefit from education and access to innovative lens technologies.
MH: How is J&J Vision responding to changing patient needs in the UK?
CA J&J Vision is addressing changing patient needs in the UK by offering innovative solutions such as the Acuvue Oasys Max 1-Day range of sphere and multifocal products, along with the full Acuvue portfolio, including toric lenses, to support diverse and evolving vision care requirements.
These changing patient needs include increasingly digitally demanding lifestyles, working longer hours from home, and demand for solutions in an ageing population that enable people with presbyopia to live unrestricted lives, leading to a growing need for multifocal contact lenses.
MH: What are J&J Vision’s priorities for 2025 in the UK and beyond? Will the company continue to target presbyopia-related drop-outs?
CA J&J Vision will continue to address the needs of patients with presbyopia to help reduce drop-outs, recognising that, as patients reach presbyopic ages, there is a lack of awareness that contact lens technologies have evolved so much that multifocal contact lenses are part of the experience now.
With our Acuvue Oasys Max 1-Day Multifocal Contact Lenses, the uniqueness of a patient’s eye can be accommodated through our Pupil Optimised Design, the only technology that uniquely optimises the optical design to the pupil size according to age and refractive error.6-10
I also think myopia continues to be a key area of demand as patient needs evolve. Our communities agree that demand is much higher than it has been in the past. It is critical for us to look at the horizon to consider the demographic changes we’re seeing coming through.
Myopia is something the industry needs to focus on. When we think about the next 10 to 15 years, this is likely to be an area of very high demand for innovation in society. J&J Vision is innovating in the myopia area building out models for the UK while we already have products in the market for some other areas, and using those to learn and refine our approach.
Astigmatism is also a central focus for J&J Vision, with ongoing innovations expanding the portfolio of lenses designed to meet the needs of patients with astigmatism.
At J&J Vision, we are continuing to invest a significant amount of research and development into emerging challenges and patient demands as we recognise that demands change and what is true today won’t be true for next year or the next 10 or 20 years.
MH: How is the company adapting to the challenge of sustainability?
CA Sustainability is a core part of how individuals and corporates need to think as we consider the challenges we’re going through as a global community. J&J Vision is continuing to adapt to these challenges by implementing environmental sustainability commitments.
Our manufacturing facility in Limerick, Ireland only utilises 100% renewable energy driven by wind power; surpassing the 2025 sustainability goal set by J&J.11 Throughout the UK, J&J Vision helps customers to recycle millions of contact lenses every year through our Acuvue Contact Lens recycling programme. Since the programme began in 2019, more than 18 million contact lenses, blister packs and foils have been recycled.12
MH: Do you have any additional thoughts on current trends in contact lens prescribing in the UK?
CA Presbyopia will drive demand owing to the ageing population in the UK. J&J Vision is committed to improving awareness of contact lens options among patients, so they don’t just assume glasses are the only option. At J&J Vision, we want to make sure we are giving ECPs all the information necessary to help patients make informed decisions.
MH: How can the benefits of better vision and general eye health be better communicated by ECPs?
CA We understand that ECPs are often time-limited, so we provide tools, resources and expert support from professional affairs consultants to make contact lens fitting easier and help them effectively communicate the benefits of improved vision and eye health. This includes the J&J Vision Pro website, which provides access to tools, education in different formats to suit ECPs from podcasts to webinars, and online modules with CPD accreditation.
References
- World report on vision. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. Page 3. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
- Keep an Eye on Your Vision Health. https://www.cdc.gov/visionhealth/resources/features/keep-eye-on-vision-health.html
- J&J consumer media survey, 72point, November ’24, Sample, 2000.
- Euromonitor International, May 2023, Eyewear in the United Kingdom Report. Euromonitor source: trade associations, trade press, company research, trade interviews, trade sources.
- Source: JJV Data on File 2022 – Growth Levers UK
- JJV Data on file 2022. CSM- Acuvue Pupil Optimized Design Technology: JJVC contact lenses, design features, and associated benefits.
- JJV Data on file 2014. Report VIS-TD-101405 Analytical Comparison of 1-Day Acuvue Moist Brand Multifocal Contact Lenses with Lacreon Technology to Air Optix Aqua Multifocal using MTF and Image Simulations.
- JJV Data on file 2022: Report VIS-TD-107988/2 - Equivalency of the Safety and Effectiveness of the Optical Design across the Acuvue Multifocal Portfolio.
- JJV Data on file 2022: Report VIS-TD-108809/1 Designing Aurora to match the power profile of Lucy.
- JJV Data on file 2022: Report VIS-TD-108817/1 Role of HEV Filters on Pupil Diameter: Aurora.
- JJV Data on File 2020. Sustainability Statistics for Acuvue Contact Lens Manufacturing.
- Visit: https://www.terracycle.com/en-GB/brigades/acuvue.
