By Marge Axelrad
Editorial Director

NEW YORK--One of the drivers of the new energy in the current contact lens market, for both patients and eyecare professionals, has been the emergence of silicone hydrogel lenses.

B&L is extending its Pure Vision siliconehydrogel position with the new Pure Vision Toric and, in March, the Pure Vision Multifocal.

Known as “sihys,” these materials offer much higher oxygen content than more traditional hydrogel lenses. Because of those qualities, they were introduced originally in the marketplace several years ago with FDA-approvals for 30-day extended wear.

But, of late, silicone hydrogel lenses are fast being adopted by both doctors and contact lens wearers for other, shorter wearing cycles and modalities, including daily wear. And with marketing approvals for up to seven days of extended wear, the rapid expansion of sihys in the U.S. market is becoming more pronounced.

In addition, new designs and treatments are bringing silicone hydrogels into traditional “specialty” contact lens arenas such as the toric and multifocal categories, a trend that will propel these products even further in the next two years in particular, contact lens executives and practioners agree.

CIBA Vision’s O2Optix and its Night & Day lens.

Vistakon, CIBA Vision and Bausch & Lomb are already heavily vested in the category. CooperVision, still very committed to its PC Hydrogel series for daily wear (still the vast majority of most contact lens fits), has launched its own sihy, Biofinity, in Europe and anticipates a July 2006 launch in the U.S.

For all the companies, education efforts for eyecare professionals are substantially underway to help ECPs understand the distinctions among products and to help them understand new design options as well.

Consumers--via strong word-of-mouth--are hearing the message about “new” contact lenses and are asking questions.

Indeed, both CIBA Vision andVistakon, a division of Johnson & Johnson, both report “aggressive” print and broadcast consumer advertising and marketing expenditures towards the silicone hydrogel category, with increases planned again for 2006. B&L, too, plans a highly visible print consumer launch for its Pure Vision Multifocal in March.

Vistakon’s Ultra Comfort series of silicone hydrogels includes Acuvue Advance with Hydraclear, Acuvue Advance for Astigmatism and Acuvue Oasys.

Said Karen Gough, president of CIBA Vision North America, “We’ll go back on the air on TV in mid-February with a very aggressive direct to consumer campaign speaking to the benefits of O2O for the patient and we’ll partner with practitioners as well. The message, ‘for the health of your eyes,’ will talk to the benefits of oxygen surface and design. We’ll speak to FDA approval for six-night extended wear and will be more proactive in building the brand and communicating the benefits of oxygen, our surface treatment and design.”

How far have sihys come in a relatively short time?

Gough notes, “Our Night & Day has been on the market for almost four years. We certainly paved the way with 30-night extended wear--if patients wanted to sleep in their lenses, they wanted the healthiest lens possible. In September of 2004, we introduced O2Optix which was positioned for weekly wear with 6-night extended wear and it has just been a home run.” CIBA Vision will be addressing its own capacity, building up production to service current market needs, now anticipating that its 02Optix Toric will come onstream in early ’07.

“According to A.C. Nielsen,” Gough points out, “the weekly/ monthly segment continues to grow in the U.S. market where they account for almost 80 percent of all products sold. It’s a segment that grew about 12 percent in 2005 and almost all of that growth has been driven by sihy’s.

“So it is a great opportunity for those of us who are working with ECPs. In 2004, sihy’s represented about 13 percent of the market and in 2005, that proportion more than doubled. We project that by some time in early 2007, sihy’s will represent over 40 percent of the weekly/monthly segment. It will continue to grow and be very important for practitioners and great for patient health.”

Through the proactive education and training efforts of its sales force, CIBA is also expanding its series of sihy symposia around the country. Gough says there will be more than 20 conducted around the country in 2006, to help practitioners understand all sihy products.

Comments Lisa Fawcett, vice president of marketing, contact lenses, for Bausch & Lomb, U.S., “We have been highly invested in the sihy category since 1999 with the launch of Pure Vision. And we are very focused in terms of capitalizing on the trend. There’s a big transition of patients taking place.

“Health Products Research data shows that in spheres, 40 percent of new fits are moving into sihy’s, not counting replenishments, and there’s already been a pretty big uptake in the toric category, too. Doctors are becoming more familiar with the material and there’s a lot of excitement at B&L around the launch of our Pure Vision Toric, which is our newest family member. We are already seeing fast adoption rates.”

Sihy’s, Fawcett comments, are materials that “truly benefit” a current contact lens wearer, who can see the benefits quickly. “Our SofLens 66 is the number one softgel toric, and practitioners can move patients right over to the Pure Vision Toric without a script change, 94 percent of the time. Doctors can accelerate the move. So refits are a major driver.”

In addition, she notes, “New wearers, another tier, are coming into the category, looking for an opportunity to wear contact lenses.”

With an “ear-catching” voiceover by actress Brenda Strong, the unseen “voice” of Mary Alice on ABC-TV’s popularDesperate Housewives, CIBA Vision is relaunching its high-visible O2Optix broadcast campaign this month, emphasizing the sihy lenses’ approval for extended wear and theircomfort overnight.

She emphasizes B&L’s design, which addresses spherical aberration in spheres, torics and, soon, multifocal designs. “Doctors have new tools to discuss options with patients in their office and the category and our designs provide new opportunities for them to have conversations about how people see and how the new materials and designs can address this.”

The topic of spherical aberration, Fawcett says, will become a bigger issue going forward.

B&L’s Pure Vision Multifocal, launching next month, will round out the company’s suite of sihy offerings.

At Vistakon, division of Johnson & Johnson, Naomi Kelman, president of Vistakon North America, notes, “Our Ultra Comfort series, which includes Acuvue Advance with Hydraclear, Acuvue Advance for Astigmatism and Acuvue Oasys, are all addressing the unmet need of end-of-day comfort for contact lens wearers.” Recently, the company announced a series of expanded parameters for the Acuvue Oasys lenses; Acuvue Oasys was recently approved by the FDA for up to 6 consecutive nights/7 days of extended wear.

Adds Cristina M. Schnider, OD, MSc, MBA, FAAO, Vistakon’s director, professional education, “Sihy’s are really still a ‘new’ category and we’re still learning, but we know the oxygen benefits and we know that the category really gives us the opportunity to have the doctor back in the conversation with patients about health and eye health. Patients are asking questions.”

Adds Kelman, “What separates us in the market is not just a class of materials but matching it with Hydraclear technology that’s really working. The fact that we have the number one sihy with Acuvue Advance with Hydraclear and the number one new-wearer Toric brand has made a difference--patients love wearing them and doctors love fitting them.”

She added, “We have been very proactive in helping doctors learn about the new materials and designs. The Vision Care Institute of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care allows the ability to provide education, particularly to new grads, about how to work with the lenses and target patients.”

Adds Schnider, “We have brought nearly 100 percent of all fourth-year students in and are starting to bring in the third-years as their programs allow. We want them to have a jump-start on the communication and technologies of the new lenses.” She adds that the VCI is also looking to develop programs for practicing doctors soon.

“Our basic and easy solution to help doctors transition to the products: put our lenses on your patients’ eyes. That’s the way. That’s what brought back confidence to practitioners.”

At CooperVision, Guy Whittaker, director of global marketing, has responsibility for overseeing the introduction of the CooperVision “second generation” silicone hydrogel lenses, Biofinity, which launched in Europe and is due in the U.S. in July of this year.

He said, “CooperVision’s goal is to provide the most comfortable lenses throughout its lines. We launched Biofinity in December in Europe, starting in Northern Europe and we are rolling it out gradually into different markets. The lens itself is different than any other sihy, the material itself naturally wettable, so there are no surface treatments or wetting agents. In Europe, the lens has been approved for 30-day continuous wear, but eyecare practitioners are choosing how to fit and prescribe wearing cycles.”

James Gardner, senior marketing manager, CooperVision U.S., will be leading marketing efforts for CooperVision’s silicone hydrogel. “CooperVison is passionate about the ‘lifetime of the wearer.’ We are strongly committed to our PC Hydrogel series but will provide the market a sihy lens with the enhancement of high oxygen transmittability. Each will have a distinct market role and the practitioner will make the decision for his or her patient.”

Coopervision has developed several education initiatives and is also in the process of putting together a web-based education vehicle for practitioners.

Acknowledges Whittaker, “Sihy will attract new wearers and help grow the market.”

And, he added, a long-term focus for CooperVision--the torics category--also contributes to new and refits. “Practitioners are more comfortable fitting today’s torics.” He noted that first-half 2007 is the anticipated timing for a Biofinity sihy toric launch.

Mike Menard, senior director, U.S. marketing for CooperVision, added, “Sihys came to market with a lot of promise. But it’s important to remember that 90 percent of two-week patients are still dispensed on a daily regimen.

“We educate the practitioner on the value of doing a thorough job of understanding patients’ needs. With Biofinity, the properties of the lens itself will address a lot of unmet needs of today’s sihy’s.”

A NOTE TO VM READERS

VM’s Contact Lens feature, “Silicone Hydrogels Gain Ground Quickly,” is the second in a series of articles that examine what’s happening in different segments of the market. Future stories will explore in more depth new products and developments in Multifocals, Cosmetic Tints and New ECP Dispensing Trends in CLs.