Don’t wait for patients to tell you about their possible allergies, stresses Glenn S. Corbin, OD, in the “Leading Off” item, “Spread the Word That You Can Provide Allergy Relief.” Since most allergies are seasonal, patients typically won’t think about them if their annual optometry visit is off their allergy season, explains Dr. Corbin. This is why taking an accurate patient history and asking about seasonal allergies (and eye involvement in those allergies) is important, he continues. For the full article, visit https://www.optometricmanagement.com/issues/2023/may-2023/leading-off-spread-the-word-that-you-can-provide-a
Alimera Buys U.S. Commercial Rights to Anti-Uveitis Drug From EyePoint Pharmaceuticals
Alimera Sciences, Inc. announced its acquisition of additional commercialization rights forfluocinolone acetonide intravitreal insert 0.18mg (Yutiq) from EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Yutiq is for the treatment of chronic, non-infectious uveitis affecting the eye’s posterior segment.
Bausch + Lomb and Novaliq Get FDA Nod for Dry Eye Disease Treatment
Bausch + Lomb Corporation and Novaliq GmbH announced that the FDA approved perfluorohexyloctane ophthalmic solution; formerly known as NOV03 (Miebo), for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease (DED). The drug directly targets tear evaporation. The most common adverse reactions experienced with Miebo were blurred vision (1.3% to 3%) and eye redness (1% to 3%).
BostonSight Names Director of Professional Affairs and Consultation
BostonSight named Lora Castle, COA, NCLE, director of Professional Affairs and Consultation for BostonSight Scleral. Ms. Castle previously served as consultant, vice president of Professional Services at Metro Optics. Before that, she was a program consultant in the Ophthalmic Assistant Program at Austin Community College, where she taught, and as a supervisor and as a Certified Ophthalmic Assistant and Contact Lens Specialist at Eye Physicians of Austin, Texas.
Oculis Announces Positive Top Line Results from Diabetic Macular Edema Treatment Trial
Oculis Holding AG announced positive top line results from Stage 1 of its Phase 3 DIAMOND trial of OCS-01 eye drops in Diabetic Macular Edema (DME). Specifically, Stage 1 met the primary efficacy endpoint with a statistically significant improvement in mean BCVA “Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study” chart (BCVA ETDRS) score from baseline to Week 6 vs. vehicle (OCS-01: 7.2 letters vs vehicle: 3.1 letters, p=0.007). OCS-01 is a high concentration (15 mg/ml), topical formulation of dexamethasone.
Optometry Giving Sight Names New Member of Board of Directors
Optometry Giving Sight added Susy Yu, OD, MBA, FAAO, to its board of directors. Dr. Yu has served for more than 20 years as director of strategy and operations support at Vision Essentials by Kaiser Permanente. She earned her Doctor of Optometry degree from the University of California Berkeley School of Optometry, and a master’s in business administration from the Anderson School at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Yu was previously a member of the California State Board of Optometry, and currently serves on the National Board of Examiners in Optometry, according to the press release.
Prevent Blindness to Host Annual Focus on Eye Health Summit
Prevent Blindness will host the 12th annual Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health Summit on July 12 to July 13, 2023, as a virtual interactive event. Presentations related to this year’s theme,
“Why the Eye?” will cover vision health as it relates to public health, stimulate conversations around the challenges to equitable access to eye care, explore new and unique collaborations across stakeholders, and identify opportunities to integrate vision and eye health into public health policies, practices, and research advancement. To register, visit PreventBlindness.org/eyesummit.
Transitions and Black EyeCare Perspective Continue Tour for Diversity
Transitions, along with its Diversity Advisory Board, partnered with Black EyeCare Perspective toassist in increasing the admittance of Black and African American students into accredited optometry programs and ultimately increase the amount of practicing diverse optometrists through the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Light Intelligent Tour. The HBCU Light Intelligent Tour visited three Historically Black Colleges and Universities in November 2022. A video recapping the 2022 HBCU Light Intelligent Tour at
North Carolina Central University will be released on Transitions’ LinkedIn and Facebook account pages.
OD Notebook is published weekly on Wednesdays. Unless otherwise noted, the information presented is based on press releases and/or announcements by the respective organizations. Find earlier editions here. To submit a press release to be considered for publication, click here.