At Press Time

Barry Caldwell Named STAAR CEO

Former CEO David Bailey Moves to International Role.

By Jerry Helzner, Senior Editor

■ STAAR Surgical Company, a manufacturer and marketer of IOLs and other ophthalmic products, has named Barry G. Caldwell, 57, as company president and CEO.

Caldwell, a veteran eyecare industry executive, served as CEO of therapeutic laser manufacturer Iridex until October. He replaces David Bailey, 51, who has been named president of STAAR Surgical International Operations and will be based at the company's international headquarters in Nidau, Switzerland. Caldwell and Bailey will continue to serve as members of the STAAR Board of Directors through their respective current terms.

The appointment of Caldwell marks yet another new start for STAAR. The company has continued to lose money despite the launch of its much-awaited Visian phakic IOL in the United States in December 2005. STAAR common stock recently traded at a new 52-week low below $2.25 a share. It had been as high as $9 in early 2006 following the FDA approval of the Visian lens.

"The expansion of our management leadership team should allow STAAR to focus fully on the strategic initiatives designed to enhance share-holder returns," said Don Bailey, chairman of the STAAR board of directors. "Barry brings more than 30 years of general management, sales and corporate business development experience in the ophthalmic industry. He has a successful track record for launching new technologies and achieving organic growth in mature markets through the implementation of innovative new product development and marketing plans.

"At the same time, we are very fortunate to have Dave's international market expertise and we fully expect him to continue to build on the successes he's already achieved as he transitions to his new, key role," continued Don Bailey. "During his tenure as chief executive officer, David turned our first faltering efforts in the refractive arena in Europe into our flagship international business, and has succeeded in removing several key legacy challenges that the company faced for several years."

"This evolution of leadership at STAAR Surgical will allow me to concentrate on enhancing the strong growth in our international markets and the closing and integration of our recently announced acquisition of the Canon STAAR joint venture into our operations," said David Bailey. "Barry and I have analyzed our U.S. business unit and he believes, as I do, that with a highly focused team we can build domestic growth over the long term."

Prior to joining Iridex, Caldwell served in various leadership capacities with Alcon. His executive positions included vice president and general manager of Alcon's U.S. Surgical Division, vice president of Alcon Corporate Business Development and Governmental Affairs and vice president of Alcon Canada. During his executive tenure in the U.S. Surgical Division, Caldwell was responsible for managing all functional areas including surgical instrumentation, IOLs and disposable devices used in cataract, refractive and vitreoretinal procedures.

GIVING BACK:

Growing Pediatric Ophthalmology

Dr. Hoffman Trains Doctors in Developing Countries.

By René Luthe, Senior Associate Editor

■ Most eyecare mission trips are aimed at reducing cataract blindness in developing nations, says Robert O. Hoffman, M.D., chief of pediatric ophthalmology and eye muscle disorders at Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah. However, he focuses on pediatric ocular problems. "The big difference between treating kids and doing adult cataract surgery is you can go in and do a bunch of adult cataracts and you can make individuals very functional and they are likely to stay that way," Dr. Hoffman explains. "With kids and their developing visual systems, there are fairly involved preoperative assessments necessary to make sure you're doing the right thing. Then, they have to be followed post-surgery to make sure that their eyes are staying straight, that they are seeing well, if they need to be patched for amblyopia, if they need more surgery, all these things need to be identified. And so it really isn't the sort of thing that lends itself as well to just going in and doing a bunch of surgeries."

Compounding those problems is the fact that very few ophthalmologists in developing countries are versed in caring for childrens' eyes. In Ghana, West Africa, where he regularly travels on missions, Dr. Hoffman says that there are no pediatric ophthalmologists. And the Asian nations Nepal and Bhutan each only have one. Thus it is crucial, he contends, that local medical personnel are trained in addressing children's special ocular systems and problems. The eyecare missions of Moran Eye Center aim to do just that.

Dr. Moran began his mission trips approximately 5 years ago. "Candy Turnbull, the secretary of my colleague, Alan Crandall, M.D., and my wife and I were having dinner together," Dr. Hoffman explains, "and they decided I should go. I'd never really done any travel outside the U.S. at that point."

His first mission was to Ghana, a trip he has since made annually. To make the training of local personnel as thorough as possible, the Moran Eye Center brings Ghanaian ophthalmologists over to the United States for 3 months of training, a project funded by the Himalayan Cataract Project. Due to licensure issues, these visiting ophthalmologists cannot operate during their time here, so training is completed later, on another trip to Ghana.

"I'll go on my next trip and work with this doctor day in and day out," Dr. Hoffman says. "The trainee will perform the surgery and I'll watch him. This turns out to be a pretty reasonable way of getting people in place to do the work locally."

With the help of the Himalayan Cataract Project, Dr. Hoffman has engaged in similar "exchange programs" with physicians in Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan as well. The relationship with the Tilganga Eye Centre in Nepal, in the capital city of Katmandu, could be particularly fruitful, he feels. The pediatric ophthalmologist there "has a high volume of patients," Dr. Hoffman says.

"The eye center where she works is a regional referral center that sends outreach teams to places everywhere in that part of Asia, including North Korea and parts of China. She is in a position to have a huge impact on kids' eye care in that region. One of the things that I'll be working on is to try to help her come up with a plan to do that."

The procedures Dr. Hoffman performs most often on his missions are eye muscle surgery and treatment of retinoblastoma. He is frequently in the OR from 7 or 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. throughout the 10-day mission. He brings his own supplies, tailoring his choices to the locale.

"When we're going to Africa, I bring what I've boiled down to be the essentials to set up a mobile pediatric eye exam room that will allow me to check visual acuity, look at the fundus and do a refraction in a child," Dr. Hoffman says. "It's kind of selfcontained in that I can plug into the local power supply, use a power strip to charge things and see patients on an ongoing basis, whether it's in a hall outside the OR or in an exam room. I often bring a headlight to use for lighting, because lighting is very variable."

In a further effort to train local medical personnel, the trips to West Africa have included an anesthesia team and a pediatrics team from the University of Utah's medical school, to improve care in those specialties as well. Dr. Hoffman feels that the missions have accomplished that very effectively — importantly, "not just for our cases, but for the region."

Anyone interested in participating in eyecare missions can contact Dr. Hoffman via e-mail at Robert.Hoffman@hsc.utah.edu.