LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA), a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable lenses for the eye, today announced the opening of the first company-operated EVO Experience Center. The center is located at STAAR’s corporate headquarters in Lake Forest, California within close proximity to Orange County’s John Wayne Airport (SNA).
“We are very excited to open the first company-operated EVO Experience Center for ophthalmic healthcare practitioners which is designed to provide an immersive lens-based education experience with all the necessary tools, assets and resources to grow a successful EVO practice,” said Caren Mason, President and CEO of STAAR Surgical. “Similar EVO training centers already exist in hospitals, clinics and universities outside the U.S. and we are delighted to establish the first EVO Experience Center in the U.S. at our corporate headquarters. STAAR is committed to the comprehensive sharing of EVO ICL best practices, training, education and practice development. We anticipate that our EVO Experience Center will elevate interest, training and adoption of EVO ICL, globally, among existing and potential EVO ophthalmic surgeons and healthcare practitioners.”
The EVO Experience Center is equipped with advanced visualization and communications technology, allowing for in-person and virtual training, medical education and practice development programs. The center features a surgical simulation room along with meeting spaces that will showcase STAAR’s award winning global consumer marketing, and include practice development tools for interactive discussion. The surgical simulation room includes STAAR’s Online Calculation & Ordering System (OCOS), an OCULUS Pentacam® AXL Wave, 3D visualization for EVO lens loading and delivery, and a unique Collamer chamber that demonstrates the tensile mechanical properties of STAAR’s proprietary Collamer material. The EVO Experience Center features a 120-inch 4K video array that will allow video conferencing and surgical simulation, with the potential to stream live surgeries performed at other locations to the surgical simulation room.
The center officially opened on Thursday, November 10 with a grand opening event attended by local ophthalmic surgeons and staff, STAAR management and clinical staff, and EVO patients. EVO ICL patient, fashion model and digital media influencer, India Gants, the 2017 winner of America’s Next Top Model, was in attendance and shared her journey to visual freedom with EVO during a live interview. STAAR’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Scott Barnes, joined via live video stream from surgeon training internationally to welcome attendees and demonstrate the versatility and global accessibility of the center. For more information about the EVO Experience Center and to schedule a visit, please contact Jaimie Morgan, STAAR Surgical, Senior Director, Strategic and Professional Education at (626) 303-7902 ext. 3047.
About STAAR Surgical
STAAR, which has been dedicated solely to ophthalmic surgery for over 40 years, designs, develops, manufactures and markets implantable lenses for the eye. These lenses are intended to provide visual freedom for patients, lessening or eliminating the reliance on glasses or contact lenses. All of these lenses are foldable, which permits the surgeon to insert them through a small incision. STAAR’s lens used in refractive surgery is called an Implantable Collamer® Lens or “ICL”, which includes the EVO ICL™ product line. More than 2,000,000 ICLs have been sold to date and STAAR markets these lenses in over 75 countries. To learn more about the ICL go to: EVOICL.com. Headquartered in Lake Forest, CA, the company operates manufacturing and packaging facilities in Aliso Viejo, CA, Monrovia, CA and Nidau, Switzerland. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.staar.com.
