Yahoo Finance Alcon's (ALC) New Launch Strengthens IOL Innovation Leadership
Alcon ALC recently announced the launch of the Clareon Family of Intraocular Lenses (IOLs) in India. The company’s most advanced platform to date builds on its long legacy of IOL innovation and is the result of robust R&D efforts at every level — inventive material science, advanced manufacturing techniques and novel delivery systems.
By extending the full range of its latest IOL technology to patients in India, Alcon has once again pushed the boundaries to deliver transformational innovation to cataract surgeons and their patients. The latest development will also boost the company’s key Surgical business.
More on the Clareon Portfolio
Utilizing Alcon’s most advanced IOL material in its more than 20 years of IOL innovation, Clareon delivers consistent visual outcomes and long-lasting exceptional clarity. Clareon clarity is born out of a glistening-free IOL material that has among the lowest levels of haze and subsurface nano glistenings compared to leading competitor IOLs.
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The portfolio leverages many of the same design characteristics and optics as Alcon’s leading IOLs to help deliver the outcomes surgeons expect. Clareon IOLs offer sharp, crisp vision with a proprietary edge designed to help reduce glare and posterior capsular opacification. The lens’ unique and proven STABLEFORCE Haptics provide superior axial and rotational stability. Moreover, Clareon IOLs have been extensively researched, with inclusions in 30 published studies worldwide.
Clareon IOLs are inserted using the next-generation, reusable Clareon Monarch IV Delivery System, which provides precise and controlled implantation and is designed specifically for the new Clareon material.
News in Detail
Both of Alcon’s presbyopia-correcting IOLs (PCIOL), Clareon PanOptix and Clareon Vivity, are presently available in India. PanOptix delivers exceptional clarity and offers spectacle independence across all distances with a patient satisfaction rate of 99.2%. PanOptix Trifocal IOL has been implanted more than 2.2 million times, making it the most widely implanted trifocal IOL in the world.
Meanwhile, Clareon Vivity harnesses the power of non-diffractive X-WAVE technology to offer clinically proven, exceptionally low rates of visual disturbances and unsurpassed clarity. Vivity IOL is designed to extend the vision and simplify the presbyopia-correcting experience for surgeons and patients while delivering mono-focal-like certainty.
Cataracts are the most common age-related eye condition that is treated by removing the eye's cloudy natural lens and surgically replacing it with an IOL. The company-provided data shows that more than 92% of cataract surgeries have been successful, allowing patients to return to their normal routines within 24 hours.
With the aging population and increased life expectancies, the abovementioned surgeries are expected to increase 3-4% per year for the next 30 years, leading to an estimated 60 million global cataract surgeries annually by 2045 compared to the present 28 million. Against this backdrop, Alcon strengthening its leadership in IOL innovation by expanding Clareon PCIOLs to India is highly encouraging.
Industry Prospects
Per a report by Grand View Research, the global IOL market was valued at $4 billion in 2021 and is expected to register a CAGR of 4.8% by 2030.
Recent Developments in the Surgical Business
Earlier this month, Alcon’s Vivity extended depth of focus IOL surpassed more than one million implants worldwide. The milestone embodies the company’s commitment to addressing the diverse vision needs of today's patients who desire less dependence on glasses post-surgery and low visual disturbances, with a game-changing PCIOL option that expands the patient candidacy pool.
Vivity has demonstrated favorable outcomes, with real-world Vivity Registry data from more than 900 cataract patients, including patients with certain mild comorbidities as well as post-refractive eyes.
Price Performance
In the past six months, shares of the company have increased 7.7% compared with the industry’s rise of 13.6%.
Zacks Rank and Key Picks
Alcon currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Cardinal Health CAH, Stryker SYK and DaVita DVA. While Stryker and Cardinal Health each carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), DaVita presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Cardinal Health’s stock has surged 63.5% in the past year. Earnings estimates for Cardinal Health have risen from $7.12 to $7.28 in fiscal 2024 and from $7.91 to $8.03 in fiscal 2025 in the past 30 days.
CAH’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 15.6%. In the last reported quarter, it posted an earnings surprise of 16.67%.
Estimates for Stryker’s 2024 earnings per share have increased from $11.84 to $11.86 in the past 30 days. Shares of the company have moved 30% upward in the past year compared with the industry’s rise of 9.2%.
SYK’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 5.09%. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an average earnings surprise of 5.81%.
Estimates for DaVita’s 2024 earnings per share have moved from $8.46 to $8.97 in the past 30 days. Shares of the company have surged 81.8% in the past year compared with the industry’s 25.4% rise.
DVA’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 35.57%. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an average earnings surprise of 22.22%.
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