The vibrant community of start-ups, venture capitalists, and physicians at the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS) that preceded the 2013 American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting in New Orleans in November presented a welcome contrast to the all too typical dreary tales coming from medtech start-ups seeking capital. According to data from Elsevier’s Strategic Transactions, which was presented by the meeting’s co-founder, ophthalmologist and venture capitalist Emmett Cunningham, MD, PhD (of Clarus Ventures), VCs still see great potential in ophthalmic companies, particularly those with medical devices, where $200 million had been invested in 2013 as of October, twice the amount that had been invested for all of the previous year. (See Exhibit 1.)
Toward Spectacle-Free Cataract Surgery
After a lull, or at least a single-minded focus on femtosecond lasers for a time, refractive surgery has gotten exciting again: the drive to spectacle-free outcomes for cataract patients (who have aged-out of their eligibility for other refractive procedures) is calling for solutions that offer precision and accuracy at every stage of treatment. Start-ups coming up with the solutions will be serving some gigantic markets.