Rarely do Optician Awards judges act with such unanimity but this year’s Contact Lens Product of the Year Award brought a flood of praise for the winner Coopervision’s Misight 1 day.
Praise heaped on daily disposable myopia management contact lens included comments such as: ‘This product is going to make a real different to the lives of patients now and for decades to come.’ ‘A truly revolutionary lens.’ ‘The first and only product in this brand new category of lenses addressing a global epidemic. A very important product.’
What really wowed the judges was the fact that Misight 1 day addresses an increasing trend for myopia and places eye care professionals in the front line of fighting the condition. One wrote: ‘This product has brought myopia control and management to the mass UK market. Long awaited, superbly presented and marketed with an extensive and solid clinical founding combined with energetic expert training facilities. Simply put: a straight 10’.
While the significance of Misight 1 day’s launch was voiced, judges also understood the impact on optical practice of its potential to grow the myopia management sector and practice profits making its selection a business, as well as a clinical, choice.
Misight 1 day has a specially-designed, dual-focus myopia control soft daily disposable contact lens design. This has been proven to reduce the rate of progression of myopia in children, more importantly, says Neil Retallic, professional services manager, the lens does the main job of correcting vision and has been very well accepted by children and their parents.
With the seeding phase completed Coopervision is now rolling the lens out across the UK market. The feedback provided has enabled Coopervision to ‘get the communication right,’ says Retallic and provide the best levels of training and support. Interested has been brisk. ‘People have been phoning us up saying, “I want this lens”,’ he says.
From the seeding ECPs reported how simple and easy fitting the lens is, says Retallic without the need to purchase any specialised equipment. They were also delighted at how soon children adapt to the lenses. ‘In the most recent webinar we hosted, 75% stated that they believe that myopia management using contact lenses will become the standard of care with contact lenses.’
The genesis of Misight 1 day is the myopia epidemic facing modern society. ‘The prevalence of myopia is projected to increase from approximately two billion people worldwide in 2010 to almost five billion people in 2050,’ says Retallic. He points to the wider implications of myopia above and beyond simple visual acuity. ‘The World Health Organisation recognises that with this alarming increase comes a higher risk of the pathological consequences of myopia – such as retinal damage, cataract and glaucoma, which can lead to significant visual loss, disruptions to quality of life experiences and a greater work load, cost and demand on ophthalmology and health care services.’
Coopervision took on the challenge of bringing a soft daily disposable to market as an effective and safe treatment to offer ECPs and their patients the opportunity to benefit from lower levels of myopia. ‘Our vision and passion is that the future of myopia management becomes the standard of care for all young progressing myopes and we are excited to bring MiSight 1 day to market,’ he adds.
It was back in 2005 that the first studies in New Zealand showed the concept of slowing myopia progression and the Proclear material was chosen as the material to host the design. It was at the BCLA conference last year where three-year results data showing continuous efficacy as a myopia management option was presented.
Retallic says the beauty of Misight 1 day is that it is just a normal soft lens which children can easily handle and are happy with. ‘In the multicentre study 100% of children new to contact lens wear found the lenses easy to remove and 85% said it was easy to apply. Parents also reported positive responses.’
Having developed Misight 1 day Coopervision saw its entry into the optician Awards as a great way to raise awareness of myopia management and the duty of the profession to inform patients regarding myopia management options. ‘We are proud as a company to be a pioneer of myopia management,’ says Retallic adding that 5% of global revenue from Misight 1 day will be donated to Optometry giving Sight and Our Children’s Vision to support eye health initiatives.
The significance of winning has not been lost on Coopervision and it plans to use the victory to back up Misight 1 day in the market. ‘We are extremely proud to win this prestigious award and gain recognition for this breakthrough product. More importantly is how this can be used to help engage the sector with myopia management. ‘It’s also provided the confidence of knowing that we are on the right track.’
The announcement of the win was a particularly proud moment for Coopervision professional services team which has been responsible for the Misight 1 day product. ‘It was recognition for a lot of hard work,’ he says. The recognition can also be shared by those ECPs on the seeding programme. ‘ The recognition isn’t just about the product but what those practitioners involved have achieved.’