WINTER PARK, Fla., April 8 /PRNewswire/ -- LensAR, Inc., the leading developer of next generation laser technology for cataract surgery and presbyopia, today announced the appointment of David F. Chang, M.D. as the company’s medical monitor, as well as the appointments of Lothar Koob and John Gilbert to the company’s board of directors. These appointments provide LensAR with an expanded breadth of key scientific and business expertise to support the company’s ongoing development of the LensAR Laser System(TM). The LensAR Laser System is being developed to enable novel “All Laser” procedures in the areas of cataract surgery and presbyopia.
Internationally recognized as a leading cataract surgeon, Dr. Chang is a clinical professor at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and an adjunct clinical professor of ophthalmology at the Chinese University in Hong Kong. Dr. Chang will serve as president of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) in 2012, having previously chaired the ASCRS Cataract Clinical Committee. He is also chairman of the AAO Cataract Preferred Practice Pattern Panel and past chair of the AAO Annual Meeting Program Committee.
As a clinical investigator, Dr. Chang operates at the forefront of refractive cataract surgery. He was the first surgeon in the United States to implant the Calhoun light adjustable artificial lens (2009) and the Synchrony dual-optic accommodating IOL (2005), for which he served as medical monitor for the FDA clinical trial. In his role as medical monitor for LensAR, Dr. Chang will oversee the company’s clinical trials of its LensAR Laser System in the areas of cataract surgery and presbyopia. He also currently serves on LensAR’s medical advisory board.
Presently a general partner at Extera Partners, a business advisory group which he co-founded, Mr. Koob has more than 30 years of experience successfully managing global life science businesses and developing and commercializing innovative medical products. With expertise that spans the medical device, imaging and instrumentation industries, Mr. Koob has held various executive positions managing research and development, operations, sales, marketing, service, quality and regulatory functions. These have included president of the worldwide ophthalmic systems business for Zeiss/Humphrey, general manager of the worldwide ultrasound and MRI businesses for Siemens Medical Systems and executive vice president of Analogic Corporation. Mr. Koob is involved in several start-up and later stage companies and also holds board positions with a number of leading medical companies including Vision Sciences Inc, XCounter AB and Nexstim Oy.
A retired Johnson & Johnson (J&J) senior executive, Mr. Gilbert has nearly 50 years of life science industry experience including significant expertise in the areas of intraocular lenses, viscoelastic materials and other ophthalmic products. Immediately prior to his retirement from J&J, he served as vice president of J&J International where he was responsible for running the company’s worldwide ophthalmic franchise. Mr. Gilbert’s 30 year tenure with J&J also included twelve years with IOLAB Corporation during which he served as president and then vice chairman and was credited with expanding the company’s business into key areas including phacoemulsification, lasers and pharmaceuticals. Additionally, he spent eighteen years with J&J operating company Ethicon, Inc. eventually advancing to the position of vice president sales and joining the company’s management board. Since retiring from Johnson & Johnson, Mr. Gilbert has held board seats with several companies including Visiogen, Staar Surgical, Rita Medical and Keravision (vice chairman). In these positions, he has provided critical strategic guidance that drove significant operational successes including Abbott Laboratories’ recent $400M acquisition of Visiogen.
“I am very happy to have the advice and counsel of John and Lothar to add to our board of directors. The commitment of their wealth of experience and talent will strengthen the LensAR team and will help guide us in this highly dynamic marketplace. With David, these gentlemen have each distinguished themselves through extensive and exemplary work in the ophthalmology industry and we feel fortunate to have access to their expertise,” said Randy Frey, founder and chief executive officer of LensAR. “In particular, we appreciate David’s commitment to personally oversee the clinical trials of the LensAR Laser System as our medical monitor. His surgical skill and level of dedication enhances our ability to strive for greatness in this emerging area of all laser cataract surgery.”
LensAR, Inc. is the leading developer of next generation laser technology for cataract surgery and presbyopia. The LensAR Laser System, which integrates an advanced ultra short pulse laser with propriety ocular measurement and laser scanning technologies, is being designed to allow physicians to perform several of the steps in cataract surgery (capsulotomy, lens fragmentation, precise astigmatic corrections and unique clear corneal incisions) in a single laser procedure. In addition to advancing its laser technology in the area of cataract surgery, the company is also developing the LensAR Laser System for the treatment of presbyopia.
It should be noted that the LensAR Laser System is not cleared for sale in the United States at this time. It is an investigational device limited by United States law to investigational use only.
LensAR, Inc.
