Following its July announcement of plans to acquire LumiThera, Inc., Alcon has officially completed its purchase of the ophthalmic medical device company and its flagship photobiomodulation (PBM) product: the Valeda Light Delivery System (LDS).
I missed that initial reporting from this summer, so give me a recap.
As we previously noted, Alcon’s move to add LumiThera under its wing—and the Valeda LDS to its retina portfolio—further cements its established prominence in the vitreoretinal surgery space.
- And the intent: Reportedly, for Alcon to target a major unmet ophthalmic need for a treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Plus: This purchase marks just the latest for the company, as (among other acquisitions in recent years) it purchased a majority stake in Aurion Biotech back in March and—just last month—announced plans to acquire STAAR Surgical and its FDA-approved implantable collamer lenses.
Any monetary value mentioned for this?
Nope. No details were disclosed.
So does the purchase extend to all LumiThera products?
Not quite. In fact, Alcon made a point of noting that the acquisition will not apply to two LumiThera diagnostic devices: the AdaptDx Pro and NOVA / Diopsys.
The plan for those: The company previously shared that the devices would be separated and spun off to LumiThera shareholders, after which they’ll continue to be marketed and sold off that spin-off.
- Stay tuned for news on this!
Now circle back to this flagship product for a moment.
We have a pretty wide overview of the FDA De Novo-authorized Valeda LDS in our initial coverage of this deal (click here for all those details), so here’s just a few things to know:
- What it is: An in-office, noninvasive treatment utilizing multiwavelength PBM and a light-emitting diode (LED) system to deliver treatment to the eye for dry AMD (in < 5 minutes).
- What makes it groundbreaking: It’s touted as the first (and currently only) technology to demonstrate meaningful visual improvement following 2 years of treatments in early and intermediate dry AMD patients.
Impressive! So what does Alcon have planned for the system?
While the Valeda LDS is already commercially available in the United States—as well as several countries in Europe and Latin America—the company intends to expand its accessibility to additional markets.
- And no, specific countries have not yet been named.
The timeframe for this: 2026.