By Staff
Monday, July 6, 2020 1:55 PM
Total health innovation funding for the first half of 2020 hit $9.1B, up nearly 19 percent compared to the same period in 2019, according to a
new report from
StartupHealth.
The first quarter of 2020 began strong. With $4.9B raised, it was the most-funded quarter on record for
health innovation.
But on January 11, China reported its first coronavirus death, and two months later the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 was a global pandemic.
By Staff
Monday, July 6, 2020 12:27 AM
UNION, N.J.—
PRISM Vision Group, a vertically integrated eyecare services organization operating in the Mid-Atlantic region, has completed its transaction with
The Retina Group of Washington (RGW), the leading provider of retinal and macular care in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, according to an announcement late last week. RGW operates 17 eyecare locations throughout Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. RGW also is one of the largest group ophthalmology practices in the U.S., and the largest practice solely dedicated to retinal care, the announcement noted. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
By Staff
Monday, July 6, 2020 12:24 AM
KITCHENER-WATERLOO, Canada—
Google announced Tuesday that it has acquired
North, a pioneer in human computer interfaces and smart glasses. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. In a
post on the Google blog Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president, devices and services, credited North with having built a “a strong technology foundation” that Google will use to build “helpful devices and services. North’s technical expertise will help as we continue to invest in our hardware efforts and ambient computing future,” Osterloh wrote.
By Staff
Monday, July 6, 2020 12:21 AM
LONDON—
Kering Eyewear and
dunhill have announced a partnership for the design, development, production and worldwide distribution of dunhill sunglasses and optical frames. This agreement follows dunhill’s previous five-year partnership with De Rigo, which will conclude this year. The first release under this new exclusive partnership between Kering Eyewear and dunhill will be dunhill’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection, which will include a tailored offering for the Asian market with a key focus on Japan, and will be distributed from January 2021.
By Staff
Monday, July 6, 2020 12:15 AM
NEW YORK—
Prevent Blindness will host its 9th annual
Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health National Summit as a virtual event on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. In addition, a virtual exhibit hall will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The free event will include a variety of presentations related to this year’s theme, "An Eye to the Future.” All attendees are invited to follow and share on Twitter at #EyeSummit.
By Staff
Thursday, July 2, 2020 12:25 AM
The Etnia Barcelona Foundation has launched its “Opticians With You” program, an international charitable project aimed at helping families negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
By Staff
Thursday, July 2, 2020 12:24 AM
Keplr Vision makes acquisitions, FYidoctors expands presence in medical aesthetics, Jobson’s latest Practice Performance Tracker, EyeCare Partners names new president and EnChroma appoints Mark Mattison-Shupnik as COO all topped this week's
VMAIL news feed. Click on the headlines below to catch up on anything you might have missed.
By Staff
Thursday, July 2, 2020 12:21 AM
BLOOMINGTON, Ill.—Keplr Vision, a management organization that offers a comprehensive operational and support platform for optometric practices, announced on Wednesday a series of transactions involving eyecare practices in the Pacific Northwest. Among the transactions are the acquisition of the practices operated by optometric industry leaders Dr. Bradley Smith and Dr. David Wolf.
By Staff
Thursday, July 2, 2020 12:18 AM
CALGARY, Alberta—
FYidoctors has acquired
MD Esthetics, a premier facial and skin rejuvenation centre located in Victoria, British Columbia. This marks FYidoctors' second investment in the medical aesthetics field, having entered the growing industry in 2019 with the acquisition of
ReNue —a chain of medical aesthetic clinics based in Calgary, Alberta.
By Staff
Thursday, July 2, 2020 12:15 AM
OSAKAO, Japan and SINGAPORE—
Santen Pharmaceutical Co., based here, and
Plano, a Singapore-based health tech start-up, have formed a strategic alliance to tackle the global myopia crisis. Under the terms of the deal, Plano has secured an investment from Santen.
By Staff
Thursday, July 2, 2020 12:12 AM
WASHINGTON—
The Vision Council has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will extend its current enforcement moratorium on Unique Device Identifier (UDI) labeling and reporting requirements an additional two years, making the new deadline Sept. 24, 2022. This provides all companies involved with class I medical devices additional time to implement their UDI compliance programs, said The Vision Council. This announcement from The FDA follows The Vision Council’s formal request to the FDA several months ago requesting an extension for the existing UDI enforcement moratorium.
By Staff
Thursday, July 2, 2020 12:09 AM
VM brings you the latest information from optical companies and organizations responding to the coronavirus. Essilor is coming to the aid of eyeglass wearers who struggle with foggy lenses while wearing a face mask, a common problem these days. To remedy this and other lens fogging problems, the company is launching an Anti-Fog Solutions portfolio consisting of two products: Essilor Anti-Fog AR and Optifog. “New ways of life introduce new challenges which demand real solutions,” said Sherianne James, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of customer engagement at Essilor of America.
By Staff
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 12:30 AM
NEW YORK—As U.S. coronavirus cases rose and spiked in many states across the country, particularly in the South and West, optical sales leveled off or dipped slightly in the week ending June 28, following nine weeks of steady growth (with the exception of the week of Memorial Day). These were the results in the latest Jobson COVID-19 Practice Performance Tracker.
Click to view the complete Jobson COVID-19 Practice Performance Tracker.
By Staff
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 12:27 AM
ST. LOUIS—
EyeCare Partners LLC (ECP), a leading network of full scope medical optometry and ophthalmology practices, announced the addition of David A. Clark to its leadership team in the newly created position of president. In his new role, Clark will report to Kelly McCrann, chief executive officer of EyeCare Partners. Clark brings more than 25 years of growth-oriented executive leadership experience in the health care industry, with most of his time spent partnering with physicians to establish and develop national subspecialty focused physician organizations, the announcement said. He joins ECP from
MEDNAX, Inc. (NYSE: MD), a national health solutions partner with a focus on maternal-fetal-newborn and pediatric subspecialties along with radiology and anesthesiology practices across the U.S., where he served as chief operating officer.
By Staff
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 12:25 AM
OKIA has been awarded the Intertek Green Leaf Mark, a consumer product and systems verification that confirms your environmental claims have been independently verified.