At the ForeFront:
A new way of looking at things
Edmonton's MSD Corporation has developed a specialized contact lens to help correct a condition of the cornea called keratoconus.
After more than 40 years in the optical industry, Rikke Dootjes has done just about everything: He has worked for a big optical company, started his own business, created a partnership, dissolved the partnership, rekindled the partnership, and evolved his business in line with new technologies sweeping the contact-lens business. But now he's doing something entirely new—research.
With help from AHFMR's ForeFront Program, Dootjes and his team are developing a new type of contact lens. Most contact lenses sit directly on the cornea, the clear part of the eye which covers the iris and pupil and lets light into the eye, facilitating sight. The larger msd Lens is a scleral lens, which means it sits on the sclera, the white of the eye, and does not come in direct contact with the cornea.
Dootjes knows scleral lenses well. His company, Edmonton-based Viscon Corporation, manufactures contact lenses, primarily specialty lenses. About four years ago, Dootjes's partner, Bill Sturm, developed an innovative soft lens called the Epicon lens. "It was a fabulous lens," says Dootjes. "We tried to make it in a rigid lens, but it wasn't that comfortable. Bill came up with the idea of making the lens larger. That got us thinking about the scleral lens market."
Scleral lenses are prescribed for a number of reasons, including eye trauma from surgery or an accident. However, they are most commonly used for a condition called keratoconus, in which the cornea becomes thin and protrudes, causing distorted vision. The rigid scleral lens covers the irregularity of the cornea and functions as the new refractive surface of the eye, with a film of tears filling in the space between the back of the contact lens and the front of the eye. A soft lens wouldn't work, because it would drape over the front surface of the eyeball and take on the same irregular shape as the cornea. Because scleral lenses don't sit on the cornea, there's no discomfort for the wearer.
Currently, scleral lenses are custom-made by only a very small group of highly skilled practitioners located around the world. Patients requiring treatment usually have to travel great distances to be fitted for the lenses. The cost is very high, even prohibitive in some cases.
That's where the msd Lens comes in. As a mini scleral lens with a diameter of only 15.8 millimetres, it is smaller than the standard 28-millimetre scleral lens. The lens is designed to be comfortable and easily fitted; it transmits oxygen very well, which also keeps the eye healthy. Although the design of the msd Lens is complex, Dootjes's team has developed software that allows it to be made easily by licensed contact-lens manufacturers. This will keep costs down and facilitate wide distribution of the lens.
Dootjes and Sturm set up a new company, MSD Corporation, to develop and market the msd Lens, but without any revenue, money for research and development was in short supply. That's when Dootjes turned to AHFMR's ForeFront Innovation Program. It funds medical technologies that demonstrate potential to improve health care and achieve commercial success. MSD is using ForeFront support to help cover patenting and marketing costs. "Going through the scrutiny of the ForeFront process in order to get funding was one of the best learning experiences I've ever had," says Dootjes. "The questions asked by the ForeFront committee challenged me to rethink a number of aspects of our business plan."
MSD Corporation is currently in negotiations to license the technology to the United States market. "Our first plan was to manufacture the lens ourselves, but we're pretty sure now that licensing is the way to go," adds Dootjes. The msd Lens will be officially launched in January 2008 at the Global Keratoconus Congress in Las Vegas. Dootjes and his team are already working on a second generation of the lens which has a unique tear-flow control feature. Every time the wearer blinks, tears (along with any debris) are pushed out of slots on the lens.
In the long term, the company's goal is to break into the general corrective-vision market. "The msd Lens has a number of advantages—vision is much sharper, the lens lets in more oxygen for a healthier eye, and it lasts longer than a soft lens. We think it could compete in the bigger market, and we're eager to try. But small steps first."