Stat Tracker
The Latest Data on the Contact Lens Market

Although CIBA Vision increased its share of the soft lens patient visits from almost 17% in 2000 to almost 27% in 2001, it did not achieve the economies of scale hoped for when it acquired Wesley Jessen in 2001. The combined CIBA/Wesley lost 2 share points compared with the pre-acquisition shares of the two companies.

Ocular Sciences gained less than a one-half point share of soft lens patient visits in its acquisition of Sunsoft. But when the combined share in 2000 is compared with the post-acquisition share, the company lost 1 share point between 2000 and 2001.

These decreases in share despite major acquistions could be due to the process itself and the energies devoted to integrating product lines. Or they could be due to the unexpected and singular events that occurred in the latter half 2001, which contributed to a general contraction of the market. Whatever the cause, these acquisitions, along with CooperVision's buyout of Biocompatibles, make these three companies the ones to watch as the economy recuperates.

About this data: The information in this installment of Stat Tracker was provided by Health Products Research Inc., Vision Information Services -- The Contact Lens Report. The Contact Lens Report is a quarterly diary survey conducted among U.S. contact lens dispensing locations. 745 unique dispensing locations responded to the 2001 survey, and records of more than 17,000 patient visits were collected each quarter. For Q4 2001, soft contact lens patient visits have a margin of error of ± 5.4%. The study has been conducted continuously since 1977.