JUN 03, 2015
Second Sight Medical Products, Inc.
Retina/Vitreous
In the first quarter of 2015, Second Sight Medical Products reported net revenues of $1.7 million, driven by the implantation of 19 Argus II retinal prostheses, the highest number of any quarter to date.
The Argus II device is intended for patients with severe to profound retinitis pigmentosa and bare or no light perception. Consisting of an external camera, a transmitter mounted on a pair of eyeglasses and electrodes implanted onto the retina, the system allows a patient to regain some visual function, such as detecting light and dark or seeing movement.
"These significant gains versus the same period last year were driven by the addition of new implanting centers, notably in Italy and France, where major reimbursement wins last year enabled 10 new Argus II implants to occur in the first quarter,” said Robert Greenberg, MD, PhD, president and CEO of Second Sight.
“We currently have 25 active implanting centers, and are in ongoing discussions with more centers around the world,” he continued. “We are also gaining traction with respect to overall reimbursement in Europe and the Middle East, and continue to focus on securing additional coverage wins throughout the U.S. by educating physicians and patients who are seeking coverage, publishing of new clinical trial outcome data in peer reviewed literature and submitting claims to gain coverage on a case-by-case basis.”
Gross profit during the first quarter of 2015 was $400,000 compared to a loss of $71,000 during the same quarter last year, while net loss was $5.0 million compared with a net loss of $6.4 million a year earlier.
The company plans to explore new indications for the device, including AMD, and to develop new products, such as a cortical prosthesis to treat nearly all causes of blindness. The cortical prosthesis was successfully implanted in an animal model earlier this year.