FDA Panel Backs Mentor Lens Implant

Santa Barbara-based Mentor Corp.’s flexible eye lens for patients undergoing cataract surgery won the unanimous backing of a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel. The support sent its shares up 10%, or $3.06 per share, to close at $32.31 on Nasdaq. The lenses are used in surgical treatment of cataracts, a condition where the eye lens is gradually clouded by milky or discolored film until vision is almost destroyed. The condition is most often treated by removing the damaged lens and replacing it with a synthetic implant. The MemoryLens is a so-called foldable lens, which can be inserted with a much smaller incision and requires a shorter time to heal than rigid implants. The panel’s recommendation puts Mentor one step closer to entering the $400-million cataract lens market. Currently, foldable lenses make up about half that market. “The MemoryLens is another of the improved materials for foldable lenses,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Thomas Gunderson. Mentor’s lens could have annual sales of $10 million to $20 million by the end of its first year, Gunderson said. The market for the lens implant is poised to grow as managed-care providers urge doctors to take less-invasive measures, analysts said. Foldable lens surgery can be done in 15 minutes, and vision returns as early as the following day. Other manufacturers of implantable lenses include Monrovia-based Staar Surgical Co. and Emeryville-based Chiron Corp., as well as market leader Irvine-based Allergan Inc., which is seeking the recommendation of the same panel for its next-generation lens.