Preeminent Ophthalmologist, L. Jay Katz Joins Glaukos As Chief Medical Officer

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Glaukos Corporation (NYSE: GKOS), an ophthalmic medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of breakthrough products and procedures designed to transform the treatment of glaucoma, today announced that L. Jay Katz, MD, FACS, has joined the company as Chief Medical Officer.

“Glaucoma is an insidious, asymptomatic disease that causes vision loss in millions of people worldwide”

Dr. Katz is currently a practicing ophthalmologist, the Director of Glaucoma Service at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia and a Professor of Ophthalmology at Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. In addition, he has authored numerous books on ophthalmology, published more than 200 articles in ophthalmic journals and is on the editorial board for Journal of Glaucoma, Survey of Ophthalmology, Graefe’s Archives of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology and The Open Ophthalmology Journal. After receiving his MD degree from Yale University Medical School in 1979, Dr. Katz completed an internship in internal medicine at the University of Virginia, a residency in ophthalmology at Yale and a fellowship in glaucoma at Wills Eye Hospital.

Dr. Katz is actively involved in numerous ophthalmic professional organizations and glaucoma foundations. He is a former member of the board and past treasurer of the American Glaucoma Society, a diplomate and associate examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology and a fellow, member-at-large and past president of the Philadelphia Metro chapter of the American College of Surgeons.

“We are delighted and honored to welcome Dr. Katz to our senior leadership team,” said Thomas Burns, Glaukos President and Chief Executive Officer. “As evidenced by his many professional accomplishments and contributions to the practice of medicine, Dr. Katz is among the world’s foremost experts on glaucoma. We are confident that he will play an integral role in helping Glaukos continue to pioneer the worldwide development and expansion of Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery, or MIGS.”

A former medical monitor for various Glaukos clinical trials, Dr. Katz has also been an investigator in landmark glaucoma trials, including the Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study (AGIS) and Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS). In his role as Glaukos Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Katz’s responsibilities will include providing input and counsel on product development, clinical trial designs and surgeon training; overseeing global post-market medical safety programs; and collaborating with academic institutions, professional societies, cooperative groups and other strategic and scientific entities focused on the understanding and advancement of glaucoma patient care.

“Glaucoma is an insidious, asymptomatic disease that causes vision loss in millions of people worldwide,” said Dr. Katz. “I have long admired and appreciated the innovative work Glaukos is undertaking to provide new, viable treatment options for glaucoma patients and the surgeons who care for them. I look forward to beginning the next phase of my career as part of the Glaukos organization as it continues to build MIGS awareness and adoption across the clinical community while also pursuing a range of promising next-generation therapies.“

In this new role, Dr. Katz will initially be employed by Glaukos on a part-time basis, while maintaining his ophthalmology practice in Philadelphia and involvement with clinical research and medical education.

About Glaukos

Glaukos (www.glaukos.com) is an ophthalmic medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of breakthrough products and procedures designed to transform the treatment of glaucoma, one of the world’s leading causes of blindness. The company pioneered Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery, or MIGS, to revolutionize the traditional glaucoma treatment and management paradigm. Glaukos launched the iStent^®, its first MIGS device, in the United States in July 2012 and is leveraging its platform technology to build a comprehensive and proprietary portfolio of micro-scale injectable therapies designed to address the complete range of glaucoma disease states and progression. The company believes the iStent, measuring 1.0 mm long and 0.33 mm wide, is the smallest medical device ever approved by the FDA.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that we expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for forward-looking statements contained herein, we caution you that they are based on current expectations about future events affecting us and are subject to risks, uncertainties and factors relating to our operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control, that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements in this press release. These potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitations, our ability to continue to pioneer the worldwide development and expansion of MIGs and products for the treatment of glaucoma. These risks, uncertainties and factors are described in detail under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission are available in the Investor Section of our website at www.glaukos.com or at www.sec.gov. In addition, information about the risks and benefits of our products is available on our website at www.glaukos.com. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this press release, which speak only as of the date hereof. We do not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities law.