Johnson & Johnson Vision is broadening the reach of its contact lenses specially designed to help fight nearsightedness, led by a new FDA green light.
The agency’s latest go-ahead for Acuvue Abiliti adds to its number of potential users by allowing the lenses to be offered with stronger vision correction prescriptions. At the same time, J&J Vision announced it would be expanding the contacts’ commercial availability across North America.
Made to be worn overnight, the therapeutic lenses aim to slowly reshape the curve of the cornea and help slow down the progression of myopia. Each contact is tailored to fit a patient’s particular eye, including for people with and without astigmatism.
Acuvue Abiliti first received an FDA clearance in early 2021, alongside the launch of J&J Vision’s manufacturing partnership with the Japanese contact lens maker Menicon, with a special focus on tackling childhood myopia.
The Acuvue Abiliti brand also encompasses products and services geared toward parents and eye care professionals, including software for taking measurements of the topography of the cornea and translating them into corrective prescriptions for clearer vision. The FDA’s approval this week increased the lenses’ maximum prescription strength from 4.00 diopters to 6.00 diopters.
“The expansion of treatment options comes at a critical time as myopia rates continue to rise among children,” Chandra Mickles, J&J Vision’s professional myopia education lead for North America, said in a release. Children under 12 diagnosed with nearsightedness carry a greater risk of developing vision issues and sight-threatening complications later in life.
According to J&J Vision, as part of a myopia management plan, Acuvue Abiliti’s orthokeratology lenses may help eliminate the need to wear contact lenses or glasses during waking hours, after the contacts are removed.
At the same time, J&J Vision introduced a new portfolio of intra-ocular lenses for correcting farsightedness and replacing lenses affected by cataracts.
The Tecnis Symfony OptiBlue lens—described as an “all-purpose” product with extended depth of field—includes a violet light filter, which blocks short wavelengths that can produce glare and other disturbances while driving at night, as well as features that make it easier to read digital devices and see across different distances.
They aim to complement the company’s current “high-performance” Tecnis Synergy brand of hybrid intra-ocular lens, which is designed to allow users to go without glasses.