Luxottica will acquire Glasses.com and its virtual try-on technology, currently owned by WellPoint.

 

“[We] are announcing the agreement to acquire a technology which we believe will benefit the overall eyewear sector and the optical industry in North America, a crucial market for our group and one we remain strongly committed to,” said Andrea Guerra, CEO of Luxottica, in a press release. “[We] will invest in innovations to create an enhanced online experience that will be accessible to independent practitioners in North America.”

 

Luxottica recalls that the eyewear industry in North America is estimated to be a 35.5 billion market that should exceed $45 billion by 2020. The increase in the number of individuals needing vision correction products, the projected increase in eye exams, and the greater penetration of premium eyewear will all drive this growth.

 

Until now, Glasses.com was managed as a division of 1-800 CONTACTS by WellPoint, a leading player in the U.S. health insurance industry. However, WellPoint recently announced its intention to sell 1-800 CONTACTS. It already has an agreement in principle with the Thomas H. Lee Partners investment firm, which hopes to acquire it.

Sources: http://www.luxottica.com/en/luxottica-announces-agreement-acquire-glassescom-wellpoint-inc

http://ir.wellpoint.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=130104&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1888860&highlight=

http://www.visionmonday.com/latest-news/article/luxottica-to-acquire-glassescom-and-its-tryon-technology-wellpoint-to-divest-1800-contacts-1/

 

The FYidoctors network of optometrists and VSP Vision Care Canada have formed a joint venture partnership with the goal of selling eye care insurance programs to Canadian employers.

 

FYidoctors and VSP have 50/50 ownership of the new enterprise. VSP will market and sell the insurance programs to Canadian employers and will administer them. Covered employees will be able to access eye care from optometrists in the FYidoctors network or in Vision Source Canada franchise locations. FYidoctors acquired the Canadian division of Vision Source in October 2013.

 

Currently, approximately 270 optometrists service 108 practices affiliated with FYidoctors, and 160 others service Vision Source Canada franchise locations.

 

“The landscape of Canadian health care, and optometry more specifically, is changing rapidly, and we must remain relevant to our patients,” said Alan Ulsifer, founder and CEO of FYidoctors. “A more competitive and saturated market is making it more necessary to develop a value proposition, and ultimately grow market share.”

 

Pat McNeil, VSP Global’s corporate communications director, estimates that, in the next 18–24 months, this program could cover 100,000 patients.

 

Sources:

http://www.visionmonday.com/latest-news/article/fyidoctors-and-vsp-vision-care-canada-form-joint-venture-partnership-1/

http://www.eyewiretoday.com/view.asp?20131220-ge_carecredit_to_refund_341_million_to_consumers

 

 

Japanese researchers have shown that a type of protein found in stem cells can reverse, and even prevent, retinal damage related to repetitive exposure to UV rays…in mice.

 

The researchers determined that a single injection of adipose-derived stem cells reduced the retinal damage induced by light exposure in mice. Even more important, their research revealed that progranulin, a protein found in these stem cells, could play a key role in protecting against light-induced eye damage.

 

“Recent studies have demonstrated that bone marrow-derived stem cells protect against central nervous system degeneration with limited results,” say the authors of the article, published in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine. “Just like the bone marrow stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells also self-renew and have the ability to change, or differentiate, as they grow. But since they come from fat, they can be obtained more easily under local anesthesia and in large quantities.”

 

The authors say that progranulin could become a potential target for the treatment of degenerative diseases such as AMD and retinitis pigmentosa.

Source:

http://eyewiretoday.com/view.asp?20131202-protein_found_in_fat-derived_stem_cells_could_halt_age-related_retinal_damage

 http://stemcellstm.alphamedpress.org/content/early/2013/11/13/sctm.2013-0020.abstract?sid=d770afa6-f248-4f50-8e69-2ae253817850

 

During the holiday season, we invite you to review the important events in our industry over the past year – click on the Retrospective tab. We brought it all into two parts, each covering six months, the first being December 23 and the second on December 30. ClipInfo.ca will be back on January 6, 2014. “Season’s greetings!”

 

French scientist Daniel Aberdam has successfully restored corneal cells using hair cells.

 

Thanks to this feat, which took ten years to accomplish, the French Académie des sciences awarded him the 2013 Grand Prix Fondation Générale de Santé for cell therapy and regenerative medicine. Under the direction of Daniel Aberdam, the scientists from the stem cell research lab at Inserm, Paris, took a hair sample to be cultured. They deprogrammed the hair cells and reprogrammed them to grow corneal cells.

 

Now it’s just a question of seeing whether it’s possible to repair the cornea in certain patients by transplanting these cells, to restore their sight. “If we take hair from a patient and produce cornea cells from that patient, we will see almost no immune rejection,” says Daniel Aberdam. “However, if we take cells from another person, we may see a rejection, but it will be extremely limited, since the cornea is an immune protected site.”

 

Such a method would go a long way in helping resolve the problem of a lack of corneas. About 42 million people worldwide are on waiting lists for corneal transplants.

Sources:

http://www.acuite.fr/articles.asp?REF=9194

http://www.israelscienceinfo.com/medecine/inserm-technion-le-dr-daniel-aberdam-ete-recompense-pour-ses-travaux-sur-des-cellules-souches-ips-partir-de-cheveux-et-pour-son-avancee-dans-la-decouverte-dune-molecule-medicament-appelee-prima