Samsara Vision today announced that Jason Herod, vice president Commercial, International Markets, is promoted to chief commercial officer (COO), effective August 15, 2024. Samsara Vision is a privately held specialty medical device company focused on intraocular ophthalmic devices that are intended to significantly improve vision and quality of life for individuals with untreatable retinal disorders.
Herod joined Samsara Vision in August 2021 and brings over 24 years of ophthalmic medical device, pharmaceutical, and OTC business experience. Now based in Geneva, Switzerland, Herod has lived and worked in Canada, the United States, and Czech Republic, holding many roles of increasing responsibility in sales, sales management, country, regional and global marketing, country general management, and as the Franchise Head for Europe, Middle East, Africa, Russia for Alcon.
In his role as COO, Herod will continue to support the European rollout of the SING IMT (Smaller-Incision New-Generation Implantable Miniature Telescope), Samsara Vision’s flagship, intraocular telescope (IOT) for older adults living with late-stage, age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
He will also work closely with other members of the company’s C-suite to advance availability of the SING IMT in other global markets and provide oversight for the company’s ongoing U.S. clinical trial.
“When Jason joined Samsara Vision 3 years ago after spending much of his career focused on eye health with Alcon and Allergan, I was immediately impressed by his strategic acumen and team building ability. His leadership contributed to our success earning a CE Mark and launching the SING IMT in 17 EU countries to date,” said Thomas Ruggia, president and CEO of Samara Vision. “I look forward to working with Jason even more closely as the chief commercial officer as we build our business in China, APAC, Australia, and Latin America.”
“I am delighted and grateful to be named the CCO at such an important and exciting moment in our company’s history. Our innovative approach to addressing the so-called 'non-preventable' blindness caused by late-stage AMD has led to more and more stories from patients telling us about how their improved vision helps them to reengage with their families and activities they love following their SING IMT procedure and therapy,” said Herod. “I look forward to working with Tom and the rest of the Samsara Vision team to bring our remarkable technology to global markets around the world.”
About the SING IMT
The SING IMT is a Galilean intraocular telescope designed to improve visual acuity and quality of life for patients with late-stage AMD. Images seen in “straight-ahead” vision are enlarged 2.7x onto healthy retina surrounding the macular in the back of the eye. This reduces the impact of the AMD “blind spot” in central vision and allows patients to see things that may have been unrecognizable before.
While there are traditional external optical or video magnifiers that can help to enlarge vision at a particular distance or for a single activity, there is nothing like the SING IMT that allows people to use their new vision for seeing things at all distances, stationary and in locomotion, and for performing multiple activities in ways similar to natural vision.
The SING IMT is approved for use in patients without previous cataract surgery and 55 years and older in CE Referenced countries and is under investigation in the United States.
There is no cure for late-stage AMD and the SING IMT® does not return vision to the level a patient had before AMD, nor will it completely make up for vision loss. Driving is contraindicated with the device. The most common risks of the SING IMT surgery include inflammatory deposits or precipitates on the device and increased intraocular pressure. Significant adverse events include corneal edema, vision-impairing corneal edema, corneal transplant, and decrease in visual acuity. There is a risk that having the telescope implantation surgery could worsen your vision rather than improve it. Individual results may vary.