by Joel Harrison
22. August 2010 11:46
CIBA VISION has announced the discontinuation of its SoftPerm hybrid contact lenses.
Hybrid contact lenses combine a hard, gas permeable centre (which gives their users extremely sharp vision) and a soft outer layer (making the lens comfortable and easy to insert). The discontinued SoftPerm lenses were, like most hybrid lenses, designed for daily wear and yearly replacement.
In a statement issued in relation to the decision, the company advised ophthalmologists who had prescribed SoftPerm lenses to their patients to replace them with hybrid contact lenses manufactured by SynergEyes, a California-based company specialising in such lenses. SynergEyes offers a wide range of hybrid lenses, including multifocal lenses and contact lenses designed for keratoconus patients. The company started to manufacture them in 2005, when the American FDA issued a clearance to market the SynergEyes® A lens for patients with hyperopia and myopia with and without astigmatism.
To help both doctors and patients, SynergEyes started a special website with information necessary to refit individuals using SoftPerm lenses into SynergEyes hybrid contact lenses.