CooperVision wins at SBR Technology Excellence Awards

Its MiSight® 1 day control treatment for myopia won in the Biotechnology - Health Product category.

Myopia, also known as nearsightedness, has been increasing in prevalence among children all over the world. The disease begins developing in young children as early as the age of 5, all the way to when the eye stops growing, usually in the late teens.¹ Although it can be corrected with glasses, myopia progresses and—when left untreated—can lead to serious eye complications in later life such as blindness, macular myopathy, retinal detachment, and cataracts.²

This growing prevalence is now a cause for serious concern. Myopia is now predicted to be one of the largest public health issues in the future for community healthcare, impacting 4.76billion people by 2050.³

MiSight® 1 Day is the result of CooperVision's dynamic effort to give children access to myopia management treatments. The company, which spent over a decade developing extensive research and technology to make this vision a reality, developed this eye health innovation that will help eye care practitioners throughout the world better manage myopia progression in children.

MiSight 1 day is one of the most significant developments in eye health in the past two decades. It's supported by six years of solid clinical evidence from a multi-center, double-masked, randomized multi-year study that enrolled 144 myopic children from ages 8to 12 Years old from Singapore, Canada, the United Kingdom and Portugal-. The study is in its 7th year, making it the longest continuous clinical trial for myopia management - a globally-lauded achievement for its brevity and commitment in researching soft contact lens in children.

The impact of this research was reinforced when it received FDA's approval* in November 2019. Today, MiSight® 1 day contact lens is the first and only soft contact lens FDA approved to slow down myopia progression in children from ages 8 to 12 Years old.

In just three years, the use of MiSight® 1 day was shown to slow myopia progression: 59% as measured by mean cycloplegic spherical equivalent refractiont (SE) and 52% as measured by mean axial elongation of the eye.⁴ As the trial continued, CooperVision saw highly encouraging results in years four,five and six when the original control group was refit into MiSight® 1 day.⁵ This included older children, some of whom are now wearing the contact lens in their late teens.

MiSight® 1 day's potential to significantly alter how children see the world today and for generations to come cannot be overstated. As more research is made on myopia, CooperVision aims to bring together and empower others who can give a voice and a solution to the growing number of myopic children around the world so that the 2050 prediction will never become a reality.

*Footnote : * U.S. Indications for Use: MiSight® 1 Day (omafilcon A) Soft (Hydrophilic) Contact Lenses for daily wear are indicated for the correction of myopic ametropia and for slowing the progression of myopia in children with non-diseased eyes, who at the initiation of treatment are 8-12 years of age and have a refraction of -0.75 to -4.00 diopters (spherical equivalent) with ≤ 0.75 diopters of astigmatism. The lens is to be discarded after each removal.

Reference

1. Pan, CW et al. The Age-Specific Prevalence of Myopia in Asia – A Meta-analysis, Optom. Vis. Sci., 2015, 92, 3, 258-266
2. Bullimore, M. A. & Brennan, N. A. Myopia control: why each diopter matters. Optom. Vis. Sci. 96, 463–465 (2019).
3. Holden, B. A. et al. Global prevalence of myopia andhigh myopia and temporal trends from 2000 through 2050. Ophthalmology 123, 1036–1042 (2016).
4. This study showed the temporal trend of myopia and high myopia prevalence supporting the notion that there will be a very high prevalence of myopiain 2050.
5. Chamberlain P, et al. A 3-year randomized clinical trial of MiSight® lenses for myopia control. Optom Vis Sci. 2019; 96(8):556-67.
6. Chamberlain P, Arumugam B, Jones D et al. Myopia Progression in Children Wearing Dual-Focus Contact Lenses: 6-Year Findings. Optom Vis Sci 2020;97(E-abstract):200038

The Technology Excellence Awards, presented by Singapore Business Review, was held via studio award presentations and video conferencing sessions throughout the second and third week of April.

This year’s nominations were judged by a panel consisting of Daryl Pereira, Head of Cyber at KPMG; Cheang Wai Keat, Partner, Consulting at Ernst & Young Advisory Pte. Ltd.; Henry Tan, Group Chief Executive Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at Nexia TS; Sivakumar Saravan, Senior Partner at Crowe Singapore; Cecil Su, Director, Head of Cybersecurity of BDO Singapore.

If you would like to join the 2022 awards and be acclaimed for your company’s exceptional technological innovations, please email Jane Patiag at [email protected].