MORRISVILLE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TearScience, a privately held medical device company, has announced a 50% price cut, effective immediately, on the single-use activators used with the LipiFlow treatment platform for Meibomian Gland Disease (MGD). The move is just one component of an overall strategy to make the LipiFlow and LipiView® Technologies more accessible to Eye Care Professionals (ECPs), who can then, in turn, use them to evaluate and intervene earlier in MGD for the benefit of the millions of individuals suffering from this chronic and progressive obstructive gland disease.
After recent unprecedented growth in use of its LipiFlow technology, TearScience is achieving the economies of scale necessary to reorganize and expand its supply and manufacturing capabilities. Furthermore, TearScience brought on board a new management team with a renewed mission to meet a market need of technology and treatment accessibility. Earlier this year, TearScience lowered the price of its technologies and removed imaging fees.
“By enacting these changes, we are answering the market’s demand for greater accessibility to our core technologies so that ECPs can accurately evaluate MGD early in its course and intervene in this progressive disease,” said Dr. Joseph Boorady, CEO of TearScience. “We are proud partners with the eye care community, and this latest move is driven by a desire to facilitate greater physician and patient accessibility to evaluative testing and truly effective treatment. We look forward to identifying additional ways we can partner with the eye care community to improve access.”
Studies show that MGD is an important cause of dry eye disease (DED). MGD disrupts clear vision, negatively impacts ocular comfort, and is believed to be growing in pervasiveness due to increased reliance on modern technology and display devices. However, MGD causes signs and symptoms that may mimic several eye diseases, making its evaluation and assessment difficult using standard clinical measures. TearScience has sought to facilitate ECP’s ability to evaluate and assess MGD by designing, manufacturing, and distributing technology to evaluate the structure and function of the meibomian glands. TearScience bolstered this commitment with the introduction earlier this year of Dynamic Meibomian Imaging™(DMI), a new paradigm in imaging of meibomian glands that provides exceptional clarity in visualization of the gland structure.
Now, with the strategy changes and price modifications being announced, TearScience is supporting ECPs in the early evaluation and treatment of patients with MGD. LipiFlow applies heat to the inner eyelid and pressure to the outer eyelid during an in-office procedure. It is the only electronic device cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of MGD. In multiple clinical studies, LipiFlow has consistently been shown to significantly improve mean meibomian gland secretions and reduce mean dry eye symptoms to approximately half of the pre-procedure level. LipiFlow has been used in 80,000 procedures since its launch.
“The technologies available to evaluate and treat MGD are an essential part of my clinical practice,” said Preeya Gupta, MD. “Not only is MGD a very important cause of DED, it is also a chronic and progressive disease that can lead to loss of gland function, and, therefore, the inability to have a healthy tear film. To have meaningful outcomes for patients, we prefer to diagnose it early so we can intervene before the disease course advances too far, just like for other progressive diseases.”
About TearScience®
TearScience, a medical device company, has pioneered technologies and continues to lead innovation that vastly improves evaluation and treatment of MGD. A progressive, obstructive disease and a root cause of dry eye, MGD is distinguished by loss of function and structure of tear oil glands. MGD affects approximately 86% of the 300 million dry eye sufferers worldwide and is highly prevalent in the general ophthalmic population. LipiView II with Dynamic Meibomian Imaging (DMI) distinctively images meibomian gland structure. The Korb Meibomian Gland Evaluator™ assists physicians reproducibly assess gland function. LipiFlow uses Vectored Thermal Pulse™ (VTP) technology to precisely direct inner-lid treatment and is FDA-cleared for use in patients with MGD. Sponsored and unsponsored multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical studies of LipiFlow support its safety and sustained effectiveness. For additional information on how TearScience improves evaluation of MGD, meibomian gland function and symptoms for patients with MGD worldwide, please visit www.TearScience.com.