Happy Holiday Wishes from VuePoint!
EssilorLuxottica Announces Organizational Changes
The Board of Directors of EssilorLuxottica on December 17, 2020 decided to adjust EssilorLuxottica’s governance in full respect of the equal powers principle of the business combination agreement, in order to accommodate its Executive Vice-Chairman’s desire to retire.
Mr. Sagnières leaves all his executive responsibilities at EssilorLuxottica and its subsidiaries and will remain as non-executive Vice-Chairman of the Company.
In order to preserve the equal powers principle of the business combination agreement currently in place, Leonardo Del Vecchio decided to voluntarily step back from his executive responsibilities at EssilorLuxottica and will remain non-executive Chairman of the Company.
The Board granted executive powers to Francesco Milleri and Paul du Saillant, who are appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Deputy CEO) of EssilorLuxottica, respectively, until the appointment of the new Board of Directors by the 2021 annual general meeting of shareholders. Mr. du Saillant becomes Chairman and CEO of Essilor International.
The Board of Directors also decided to pay an interim dividend for the 2020 financial year of Euro 1.15 per share on December 28, 2020 (ex-date: December 23, 2020). This decision was supported by the efficacy of the measures taken to rein in costs and preserve cash and by the sound business recovery in the second half of the year.
“I want to thank Hubert for his success in turning Essilor into a world leader and helping to build EssilorLuxottica as the strong company it is today. The contributions he made during his career with the company are long-lasting”, commented Leonardo Del Vecchio.
“The incredible progress made over the last two years, and most recently under the impetus of Francesco and Paul, give me confidence that this is the right time for me to step back and transfer my executive powers to them, to facilitate a smoother governance transition. I know that this adjusted governance will further accelerate the integration of the Company and the delivery of synergies, benefitting all stakeholders, through the continued deployment of our Mission”, added Hubert Sagnières.
Click HERE for the full press release.
FYidoctors Sets Sights on Northern Ontario with Addition of Two Locations
FYidoctors announced the merger of Sault Optometry and Sault Optometry Blind River – adding to its growing list of clinics in the province. As the number of clinics in Northern Ontario continues to increase, this also marks the first FYidoctors’ locations in both Sault Ste. Marie and Blind River, Ontario.
“To say 2020 has been a challenging year for Canadian businesses would be an understatement. Despite all that has been endured, we are fortunate to have the ability to continue moving forward with our national expansion alongside outstanding partners like Sault Optometry,” said Dr. Alan Ulsifer, CEO and Chairman of FYidoctors.
Both clinics have been serving the community of Sault Ste. Marie, Blind River, and surrounding areas for over 18 years. Sault Optometry is the largest practice in the region and specializes in dry eye treatments. Other services offered include comprehensive eye exams, a full-service dispensary, pediatric exams, and contact lens exams.
“For over a decade, our clinics have been committed to the eye health of our community and ensuring they are receiving the highest standard of comprehensive vision care – in turn, helping them see their best,” said Dr. Krista Bruni. “As a part of this commitment, we recognized the importance of working with a reputable, doctor-led organization like FYidoctors, and couldn’t be more excited to now offer our patients the highest quality products and services available through this new partnership.”
The sentiment was echoed by the teams at Sault Optometry and Sault Optometry Blind River, which are comprised of highly skilled optometrists including Dr. John Bettello; Dr. Krista Bruni; Dr. Joanna Chartrand; Dr. Bruno Coccimiglio; Dr. Hilary DeLuca; Dr. Brian Matthews; Dr. Ryan Pietrzakowski and Dr. Natalie Zagordo – in addition to administrative staff and support.
Click HERE for the full press release.
American Public Health Association Honors Five Ocular Scientists for COVID-19
The American Public Health Association has recognized the work of five prominent ocular scientists, including CORE’s Lyndon Jones and Karen Walsh, with its 2020 Vision Care Section (VSC) Outstanding Scientific Paper Award.
Two papers published by the group as the COVID-19 pandemic took root provided timely, evidence-based guidance to address and correct misinformation regarding safe contact lens wear. Both The COVID-19 Pandemic: Important Considerations for Contact Lens Practitioners and The Ocular Surface, Coronaviruses and COVID-19 along with their authors were recognized for contributing “significantly to the advancement of eye/vision care in the public health field.”
Source: CORE
Largest-Ever Study on Children’s Soft Contact Lens Wear Safety Shows Very Low Complication Rates
The largest-ever retrospective study of its kind has found very low complication rates in children who wear soft contact lenses, similar to rates in adults. The newly published outcomes offer eye care professionals (ECPs) valuable real-world information to better counsel parents and caregivers as they consider proven myopia management options to help slow myopia progression.
Adverse Event Rates in The Retrospective Cohort Study of Safety of Paediatric Soft Contact Lens Wear: the ReCSS Study will appear in the January 2021 issue of Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics, the peer reviewed journal of the UK College of Optometrists. It is now available in pre-press form via open access.
Widely-respected independent researcher Robin Chalmers, OD, FAAO, served as principal investigator, co-authoring the paper with CooperVision scientists John McNally, OD, FAAO, and Paul Chamberlain, BSc(Hons), and Lisa Keay, PhD, Head of the School of Optometry and Vision Science for UNSW Sydney.
The work was initiated to support CooperVision’s regulatory submissions of MiSight® 1 day contact lenses, which are currently available in 26 countries with more expected in 2021. This includes Canada, where MiSight® 1 day prescribing has steadily grown in recent years. The company’s Brilliant Futures™ Myopia Management Program launched here recently at the beginning of November.
ReCSS measured the rate of adverse events (AE) in children who were prescribed soft contact lenses before they turned 13 years old to establish wearing safety among that age group. The review documented AE details from clinical practice charts and clinical trial data of nearly 1,000 children and observed 2,713 years of wear across 4,611 visits. Compared to AE results derived exclusively from clinical trials, these data are likely to be more generalizable to real world experiences as myopia control soft contact lenses are prescribed more widely to young patients.
Clinical records from office visits with potential AEs were independently reviewed by an adjudication panel to determine a consensus diagnosis. The current findings are very similar to but slightly lower than rates reported in previous studies of similar age groups, possibly attributed to the higher proportion of daily disposable lenses in the current study. The study found the annualized incidence rate of inflammatory events was less than 1 percent per year of wear. The majority of events were conjunctivitis or foreign body abrasions, reflective of this young population.
The authors note that ReCSS study found a lower rate of microbial keratitis (7.4/10,000 years of wear) with a tighter confidence interval than other pediatric post‐market studies, offering reassurance to clinicians and parents of children regarding the safety of myopia control soft contact lenses. That rate is comparable to established rates of microbial keratitis in adults.
“ReCSS is the most extensive compilation of ‘real-world’ data supporting safety of soft contact lens wear in children, complementing the effectiveness research from our groundbreaking, multi-year MiSight® 1 day clinical study,” said McNally, who serves as CooperVision’s Senior Director of Clinical Research. “Practitioners will appreciate the fact that the study included a range of eyecare practice types and locations and a variety of soft contact lens brands, modalities and designs. Parents should be even more confident in embracing the benefits of a soft contact lens-based approach to myopia management by knowing that the study evaluated the safety of contact lenses in children of the same age range as their own.”
Click HERE for the full press release.
