In So Many Words is a timely talk with an ophthalmic industry thought leader.

Novartis, parent company of Alcon, announced in January that it might sever ties with Alcon — or it might not. Novartis is taking its time, saying it will decide by year’s end the best future for the business, despite its significant standing in the ophthalmic devices market, according to statista. The business statistics firm places Novartis in the number-two spot among the top 10 ophthalmic medtech firms through 2022. Sergio Duplan, Alcon’s region president for North America, says it is precisely under circumstances like these in which a company reveals all its strengths. “If you stop taking risks, if you stop investing, you go into a black hole.”

Ophthalmology Management: Please discuss the current situation with Novartis.

Sergio Duplan: We are purely a medical device manufacturer, and Novartis is strictly a pharmaceutical company. [Novartis’ announcement] has had little to no impact on Alcon employees or its customers.

We are continuing to close deals, deepen relationships with our customers and drive innovation. We are also educating cataract patients with a new program, introducing innovation to our customers such as the newly approved, dual-correcting AcrySof IQ ReSTOR IOL for presbyopia and astigmatism and launching our new integration Verion system. The mood is business as usual.

OM: Before we discuss these innovations, please tell us how an industrial engineer got into the ophthalmic devices industry.

SD: After getting my degree at the Universidad Iberoamericana, in Mexico City, I came to the United States and received an MBA from the Wharton School at Penn. During my second year of the program, Eli Lilly approached me. I wasn’t looking for pharma; what attracted me was the company more than the industry. I was with Lilly for eight years, then Novartis. Then a good opportunity came up to go into medical devices with Alcon. It was a new challenge.

OM: What is it about the people that impressed you?

SD: I have worked in cardiology, psychiatry and other specialties, but ophthalmology is the best. First, you see patient outcomes: When you see a patient who couldn’t see recover his sight, it’s very rewarding to see the impact on that patient’s life. And this space is very small and the ophthalmologists support each other. There are great people working here … They support people in need through medical missions, surgeons donating their time, and partnering with other nonprofit organizations. When you have a chance to see that, it is amazing.

OM: So Alcon celebrates its 70th year in 2017.

SD: When you go back into the history of cataract, the first era was patient safety. And we’ve really progressed here. The second era was, and still is, efficiency; now throughput is possible. Many surgeons in this era operate quickly and they can boast how quickly and safely they can perform cataract surgery.

We believe we are in a new era, a cataract-refractive era. This era is about achieving the best patient outcomes by correcting refractive errors, like astigmatism. This will require a mindset change. It may slightly slow the process, as it requires more pre-operative work with technology to nail the best refractive outcome. When patients pay, of course they expect the best possible outcome. But with our technology, we can target outcomes and work with patients through education programs.

OM: Let’s talk about the new education initiatives.

SD: Late last year, Alcon launched a patient education campaign. It aims to educate patients about understanding their cataract treatment options, including an option in which a patient can get two birds with one stone by correcting cataracts and astigmatism at the same time. The My Cataracts website had about 100,000 visitors over the past 30 days. We also launched a YouTube channel; the campaign video has been viewed more than 2.7 million times.

And we are reaching out to optometrists to make sure they are able to educate patients in the office about their cataract treatment options.

OM: The IOL and the ORA?

SD: The AcrySof IQ ReSTOR +3.0 D multifocal toric IOL is a combination multifocal with toric. The U.S. presbyopia correction market has only 5% penetration With this IOL patients can lose their readers. US commercialization is expected on a rollout basis soon. And we will be launching our next generation of ORA this year. We want to optimize the surgeon’s refractive outcomes. The choice of lens gets optimized with each case. We are integrating the ORA with the Verion image guided system, the LenSx femtosecond laser, the Centurion phacoemulsification system, and the LuxOR LX3 microscope.

OM: But Alcon is still interested in acquisitions, correct?

SD: We look at many technologies that are out there. Under (CEO) Mike Ball, we are looking at outside development and partnering. I think that is very exciting. We have a dedicated team looking out for new investments.

OM: What goes through your mind when you see the presentations at the Ophthalmic Innovation Summit?

SD: The first thing we think about is addressing real need. Our existential question regarding the presentation is, is there a good rationale behind it? Some products are really long shots. Then we ask, how early can the company engage? The earlier we step in, the better. We look at the probability of success. Alcon spends [so much] on R&D in this space that these innovators usually come to us first. We are always looking for more opportunities to enhance sight and improve lives. OM