More interesting info:
McDonald & Co., no Merrill Lynch but a good regional firm, recently published a 200 page report on the eyecare industry with faint praise for Keravision while extolling LASIK-related companies. (They don't officially cover KERA).
Today it was interesting to read the analyst's reaction to the polling results among 500 or so MDs attending the 6 participant panel at AAO. Perhaps events like these will cause more of Wall Street to take KERA more seriously.
"Poll results were somewhat surprising. ... While the survey was informal, Intacs are clearly being considered and evaluated by a number of physicians. We continue to believe that LASIK will be the procedure of choice for vision correction and Intacs will need to overcome some hurdles such as patient/physician acceptance, procedure times, an established LVC infrastructure, physician learning curve, and limited clearance for low to moderate myopia. Still, Intacs have some inherent advantages such as removability, the procedure is performed outside the optical zone and the device is a method for physicians to differentiate their practices. Some leading refractive surgeons have recognized this last point and have added Intacs to their portfolio of products."
"While we are not sure on the exact number of
refractive surgeons taking part in the poll, there may have been about 500 people listening to the debate. After presentations were made, the physicians in the audience were asked several questions based on what they are currently doing in their practice and what they may do in the future.
1.) In current practice, which procedure do you perform the most when treating low to moderate myopia?
PRK 18%
LASIK 76%
ICRSs 7%
2.) What percent of procedures currently being performed in your practice are LASIK?
Less than 50% 22%
50-70% 7%
70-90% 16%
over 90% 56%
3.) Have you performed an ICRS procedure in the past?
NO 81%
YES 19%
4.) If yes, what percent of procedures currently being performed are ICRS?
Less than 25% 74%
25-50% 9%
50-75% 7%
more than 75% 9%
5.) Based on the presentations, which do you believe is the best treatment for low myopia?
PRK 21%
LASIK 44%
ICRSs 34%
6.) Which procedure will you now perform, based on the presentations?
PRK 12%
LASIK 52%
ICRSs 36%
7.) If you have not previously performed ICRS, will you do so now?
YES 73%
NO 27% |
