A new month means new executive changes in the eyecare industry.
The latest news: Haag-Streit Group selected its next CEO to head up the company, while Heidelberg Engineering expanded its senior leadership team, and Samsara Vision added a new vice president.
Let’s start with this new CEO.
Earlier this month, Haag-Streit announced Thomas Lenzen would be taking the helm of the Switzerland-headquartered international medical device company.
- His predecessor: Thomas Bernhard, who served as CEO for the last 4 years.
- And the effective date: Sept. 1
And take note: This position heads up Haag-Streit Group (not Haag-Streit USA, whose CEO Olaf Felske has held his role since 2023).
Got it. So tell me about Lenzen.
Haag-Streit’s new leader is a +20-year veteran of the med tech industry, specifically with experience in international leadership.
Most recently: Lenzen spent nearly 10 years at Haemonetics, where he served as Vice President International—overseeing the company’s international operations for the business unit’s plasma and blood center—and held several other VP positions.
Does he have any executive eyecare experience?
Noted has having “deep expertise in ophthalmology,” Lenzen also held several senior roles at Bausch + Lomb:
- Vice President Global Sales and Marketing, Laser Systems
- Business Unit Director Surgical (DACH)
- General Manager DACH & Integration Leader (Bausch Health Companies, Inc.)
So what will Lenzen be focusing on in his new role?
To put it broadly: Leading Haag-Streit into its “next phase of growth”—which includes building on the company's current portfolio.
Check out our coverage of their latest product launches, including a new corneal map for the Lenstar 900 optical biometer (in June 2025) and the METIS 900 ophthalmic microscope system (in March 2025).
Next up: Samsara.
Company refresh: Based in New Jersey, the private specialty medical device company focuses on proprietary implantable ophthalmic devices and technologies for untreated retinal disorders (late-stage age-related macular degeneration [AMD]).
Now to its news: Samsara named Don Manser as its new Vice President of U.S. Commercial Strategy (effective earlier this week).
Tell me about Manser.
The new VP is reported to have spent the last 14 years working in the ophthalmology space with an emphasis on retina. Prior to that, he held leadership positions in the pharmaceutical industry.
Most recently: Manser served as Senior Director, Early Product Commercialization, at EyePoint Pharmaceuticals (and was heavily involved in the launch of YUTIQ).
His experience also extends to:
- ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc
- Alimera Science
- Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
- Bausch + Lomb
- Allergan
- Biehringer Ingelheim
So what’s new at this company?
As we reported at the beginning of the year, Samsara’s Smaller-Incision New-Generation Implantable Miniature Telescope (SING IMT) for late-stage AMD is currently under clinical investigation.
- While the prosthetic device already received a CE mark, the company has shared that it is working with the FDA to “determine the timeline and pathway" to bring it to the U.S. market.
Alrighty, moving on to Heidelberg.
Late last month, the German high-tech imaging solutions company appointed two senior leaders to its executive team:
- Stéphanie Magazzeni, PhD, as Chief Scientific Officer
- Holger Ruchatz, PhD, as Head of Product Management
Tell me about these individuals.
Starting with Magazzeni: She has spent over 25 years in the medical technology field, focused on ophthalmology and big data.
Most recently: She was with Carl Zeiss Meditec for over 16 years, most recently as the Head of Digital Research & Innovation within the company’s Digital Business Unit.
- Her responsibilities: Involved leading global scientific collaborations and assisting with major product launches.
And Ruchatz?
With 20+ years of working in the product management and business development fields, Ruchatz was also most recently with Carl Zeiss Medtec
His role: Serving as Director of Product Management, where he helmed the product management team for the company’s Corneal Refractive Business Unit.
- As for his other experience: He also served as Vice President Diagnostics at Vision Ophthalmology Group (now AddVision), among other roles at industry companies.
So what’s Heidelberg been up to lately?
Back in May, the company showcased the FDA-cleared SeeLuma—a fully digital surgical visualization platform with an advanced level of visualization for ophthalmic surgeons.
And over the summer: New research supported the use of Heidelberg’s SPECTRALIS imaging system to advance the genetic diagnosis of inherited retinal diseases (IRDs).
See here for all the latest coverage on the company.