The lenses, with oxygen transmissability of 175 Dk/t, are being launched in a 'limited method' in Mexico to test the reactions of the profession and the public. Dr John Housden, managing director of Ciba Vision UK, said this week that the lenses, which will be indicated for extended wear of up to six nights, represented the future of the contact lens market. 'The lens is a 30-night lens. You can sleep with it in for that time,' he said. 'However, in test-marketing exercises such as this we know how conservative practitioners are, so we're recommending wear for six days. After that time the patient cleans the lens and wears it for another six days. After four weeks the lens is discarded.' Dr Housden emphasised that the Mexican launch was not to test the product's clinical ability, which had already been researched, but to see how well practitioners accepted it, and to judge the success of its current marketing strategy. 'We know many practitioners will want to 'feel their way' with this lens, knowing the history of extended wear, and we expect them to be fairly conservative,' he said. 'However, Mexican practitioners are very dynamic. It is a rapidly developing market for us and is ideal for test-marketing.' Dr Housden said that wearers in the UK were demanding this type of extended-wear lens, but he recognised that practitioners had to be convinced of its safety. Nevertheless, he could not confirm when Focus Night & Day lenses would be launched in the UK, except to state that it would be soon, and it would be part of Ciba Vision's global programme.