Industry Insider is a timely chat with an ophthalmic industry thought leader.

Bob Colucci

Regener-Eyes, manufactured by Regener-Eyes LLC, is a first-in-class sterile biologic drop used to treat dry eye by stimulating the body’s ability to heal and repair the eye.

Bob Colucci joined Regener-Eyes as its chief operating officer in August 2019 and brought with him more than 40 years of experience in the ophthalmic industry.

Ophthalmology Management: What can you tell us about Regener-Eyes?

Bob Colucci: Regener-Eyes works through a combination of cytokines, which may reduce the inflammation around the eye, and proteins, which may help expedite the eye’s healing. The drop is manufactured using all-natural ingredients and contains no preservatives or anything artificial. Because of that, there have been no recorded adverse events since we launched this product.

Regener-Eyes is made utilizing our d-MAPPS (derived–Multiple Allogeneic Proteins Paracrine Signaling) platform technology. This technology is engineered to stimulate stem cell communication without cell-to-cell contact.

All cytokines have multiple functions and multiple target cells, as well as shared activities. When secreted in normal amounts, cytokines are important in normal homeostasis; when introduced in larger amounts, cytokines are important in cell recruitment, cell differentiation and inflammation, all necessary in the healing process.

There has actually been a lot of confusion about what a biologic is, since it’s new to eye care, so part of our mission is to educate eye-care professionals. We also recently launched an area on our website (viewable at https://mydryeyes.org/ocular-immunology-advances/ ) dedicated to “Ocular Immunology Advances,” which features a wealth of information and an animated “Mechanism of Action” video series.

In addition to Ocular Immunology Advances, as part of our outreach, we also started a social media campaign and other PR work to educate our audience about biologics. While it’s common for us to at first see skepticism from ophthalmologists, that tends to disappear once they get a chance to try Regener-Eyes on their patients and see the results firsthand.

OM: For what patients is Regener-Eyes intended?

BC: We offer Regener-Eyes at two different levels of strength: Professional Strength, for patients with severe problems, and Regener-Eyes Lite, for mild to moderate problems.

Although we cannot make these claims, a lot of eye-care professionals have been using Regener-Eyes to treat conditions such as corneal wounds, corneal abrasions, Sjögren’s syndrome, even Stevens-Johnson syndrome. In all these cases, doctors have been seeing good results for their patients when using Regener-Eyes.

OM: How has your experience in the ophthalmic industry prepared you for your role at Regener-Eyes?

BC: Between Essilor and CooperVision, I’ve had a well-rounded career, starting as one of the first sales reps hired at CooperVision and being involved in the initial launch of the aphakic and cosmetic models of the Permalens.

I joined Essilor in the late ‘80s, and during my 30 years there I helped launch products such as the Varilux Comfort lens and Essilor’s Transitions lenses.

I left Essilor in 2017, as president of the independent distribution division, but continued to serve as chairman of the Essilor Vision Foundation for two years, before joining Regener-Eyes. What persuaded me to join was the response from doctors to the product, with many calling it things like “a miracle product,” “liquid gold” and “life-changing.”

Regener-Eyes is a high growth company with about 300% to 400% over our previous year. We have plenty of talented people here to do whatever it takes to succeed. OM