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

Pierre Billardon

Pierre Billardon was named CEO of Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center (DORC) in June 2020. Among DORC’s products are TissueBlue, the only FDA-approved selective stain for internal limiting membrane, and the EVA phaco-vitrectomy system.

Ophthalmology Management: What challenges did the global pandemic present to DORC?

Pierre Billardon: Like all sectors of the economy, it was a bit rocky. The good news is that, looking at the big picture, DORC performed much better in 2020 than the benchmark for the industry that year. One reason was our business model — we’re very fortunate that we’re less dependent on cataract procedures for revenue. Our revenues from retinal devices, which are involved in procedures less elective than cataract, helped protect us.

Another factor was that we had a “rolling” global market to fall back on — when things were bad in Asia, they were not yet as dire in Europe or America. Overall, we’re very happy with our results from 2020.

As for the personnel measures we took to exit the crisis, we temporarily froze all of our hiring but were careful not to make any cuts to R&D; that’s why we’re able to bring our two new products to market. We emphasized protecting the health and welfare of our employees. With that in mind, we switched to conducting a lot of business digitally during the pandemic. For instance, we had a digital launch for TissueBlue in the United States, where instead of going to conferences and meeting customers face-to-face we hosted multiple online webinars.

Another example of digitization was conducting device training online. Normally, we would have employees meet clients in person to review the operation of a new DORC machine. Even though in-person meetings were not possible during this time, we were still able to get our products to customers and prepare them for use. In this way, we kept the agility we had from our early days as a start-up.

OM: What are DORC’s most recent releases for the US market?

PB: The most recent is TissueBlue, which we launched prior to the COVID outbreak. It helps surgeons by staining the upper membrane of the retina, to peel away the unnecessary tissue and respect the integrity of the eye. It’s the only such product approved by the FDA, and so far has been used in more than 17,000 surgeries in the United States.

It’s been very important as surgeons would previously use off-label staining solutions, which do not provide the safety and efficacy of our product. We’ve been very pleased with its launch and have received fantastic feedback from surgeons.

Our other recent product enhancement is the upgrade of our EVA phaco-vitrectomy system launched in 2019 in the United States. The most unique feature of the upgraded system is that it’s the first system on the US market to feature a fully integrated footswitch with laser control through the main pedal. As you can imagine, laser during VR surgery requires precise control and fast response, and the new footswitch provides this for surgeons. Further, the footswitch features other ergonomic improvements such as interchangeable inlays and adjustable foot position.

OM: What does DORC have upcoming in its pipeline?

PB: The years 2021 and 2022 will see a major innovation for DORC, and we’re expecting to launch two products during that time frame. The first, that has already received 510k clearance, is AVETA, a new trocar cannula system that is the first to feature a Push-Fit infusion connection (patent pending), a chamfered leading edge for the cannula and a laser-etched retention feature. These features combine to meet the three key surgeon requirements for trocars: smooth insertion, better retention in the sclera and enhanced and sutureless wound sealing. Based on the first 200 surgeries performed globally, in 81% of cases, AVETA has been rated superior to their existing trocar cannula.

Further innovations will follow later in 2021, including developments to the Two Dimensional Cutting technology DORC first introduced in 2014 and the next generation of the EVA platform. We are very confident that all of these will receive 510k clearance before the end of 2021.

OM: What are your goals as leader of DORC?

PB: The clear goal for us is to double the equity value of DORC in the next 3 to 5 years. As for how we plan to do that, our first priority is to “go big” in the United States and expand our operations there. We have only about half the market share in the United States as we do compared to the rest of the world, which we see as a big potential for growth. We want to expand our field office and strengthen US operations to offer better coverage for that market. Additionally, we want to continue to bring new products to the US market and bring the voice of that market to DORC R&D.

Looking more globally, expansion into China is also a big priority for us. We have strong strategic partners there and want to bring new products to that country. Further, we want to continue taking care of our employees. We’re a growing business and hiring more and more people, and we want to continue fostering a strong engagement with them. OM