Carl Zeiss Meditec AG announces completed acquisition of Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center
Zeiss has secured regulatory approvals to acquire DORC and will shift focus to integration implementation
Zeiss announced an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in DORC in late 2023. Image credit: ©piter2121 – stock.adobe.com
Carl Zeiss Meditec AG today announced it has completed the acquisition of the Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center (DORC) from the investment firm Eurazeo SE, Paris, France. In late 2023, Zeiss announced an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in DORC.
According to the latest news release, Zeiss has secured all of the required regulatory approvals to finalise the acquisition.1 The acquisition enhances and complements Zeiss Medical Technology’s broad ophthalmic portfolio and range of digitally connected workflow solutions for addressing a wide variety of eye conditions, spanning retina and cornea disorders, cataract, glaucoma and refractive errors. DORC is perhaps most notable for its dual-function EVA NEXUS platform for vitreoretinal (VR) surgeons.2
In January, Euan S. Thomson, PhD, Head of the Ophthalmology Strategic Business Unit and Head of the Digital Business Unit for Zeiss Medical Technology, spoke exclusively to Ophthalmology Times Europe2 about the upcoming partnership with DORC.
"We are the most extensive device company in the ophthalmology space. We have the broadest range of products, and that's for a reason," Thomson said. But the VR space had been a gap in the Zeiss portfolio, and the EVA NEXUS platform would fill in the missing pieces. Upon acquiring DORC, he explained, "We’ll be able to start working on integration, and creating a very streamlined workflow inside the operating room, because we’ll have more direct access to all the necessary pieces of technology."
Thomson expressed his hope that a more robust device portfolio would lead to better outcomes for patients, whether in the surgical suite or as part of a disease management protocol.
"In the end, the intersection point of all these different procedures and disease management processes is the patient. We don't see that these things should happen in isolation," he said. "The fact that many of these procedures and disease management processes actually do intersect speaks to the value of having multiple workflows, all based on the same digital platform with the same type of connectivity.."
In today's news release, Thomson said Zeiss is excited to expand its global offering of technologies and digital workflows.
“With DORC, we have an incredible opportunity to serve ophthalmologists around the world with more complete workflows and solutions than ever before,” Thomson said. “We’ve set our sights high to become the top player in the world for ophthalmology by leveraging our workflow solutions, enhancing our portfolio offerings and market position in the anterior surgery segment and by significantly expanding our presence in the posterior surgery segment.”
Markus Weber, PhD, president and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, described how the two companies are better together.
“Today holds significant importance for us as we bring our teams together and turn our collective attention toward delivering breakthrough innovations and solutions for our customers,” Weber said in the news release. “We are very excited to welcome DORC’s team members to our Zeiss family and to begin integrating our products and practices as we work toward a brighter future together.”
Pierre Billardon, CEO of DORC, reiterated the emphasis on collaboration as expressed by the Zeiss team members.
“With four decades behind our amazing business and surgeon-inspired innovation, we look forward to writing the next chapter of our success story together with Zeiss Medical Technology,” Billardon said in the news release. He expressed "pride and gratitude" toward his DORC colleagues. “Together, we have achieved so much to arrive at this pivotal moment in our journey," he added. "And together with Zeiss, we have so much more to accomplish in our bright future ahead to help patients see again.”
As a participant in the retina surgical devices and consumables market, DORC’s contributions will be critical to Zeiss Medical Technology’s long-term strategy and success going forward. With DORC, Zeiss is in a position to offer an unmatched portfolio of market-leading technologies to ophthalmologists, including an expanded, digitally-connected Retina Surgery Workflow.1 This addition of the DORC portfolio will ensure that surgeons will have more options to choose the solutions that best meet their specific surgical requirements and preferences.
According to the companies, in the wake of the completion of this acquisition, health care professionals can expect to benefit from a combination of digitally connected devices and workflow solutions, from clinical pre-operative needs to the surgical operating room. This supports efficient clinical workflows and helps surgeons to improve outcomes for their patients. The two companies’ immediate priorities span maintaining business continuity and customer satisfaction, cultivating areas of deep expertise, and enhancing the value of their solutions and services for current and future customers.1
