ESCRS Highlights: Alcon's AcrySof IQ ReSTOR multifocal toric IOL now in Europe

Alcon launched its AcrySof IQ ReSTOR Multifocal Toric intraocular lens (IOL) during the Paris meeting. The new lens is built on Alcon's AcrySof platform and is designed to provide cataract patients that have astigmatism with a surgical option that delivers quality vision at all distances with increased spectacle independence.

"This is a significant advancement in IOL technology because it allows surgeons to offer their patients who have pre-existing astigmatism a lens that provides quality vision at all distances after cataract surgery," said Kevin Buehler, Alcon's president and chief executive officer. "The AcrySof IQ ReSTOR Multifocal Toric IOL combines the technologies of Alcon's market-leading AcrySof IQ ReSTOR +3 add multifocal IOL and the AcrySof Toric IOL and I believe it will expand the advanced technology IOL market."

"Combining these two innovative technologies addresses an unmet clinical need for my patients who have cataracts and astigmatism and also have the desire for an IOL that gives them visual acuity at all distances with less need for glasses, " said Dr Francesco Carones, cofounder and medical director of the Carones Ophthalmology Centre in Milan, Italy. "The AcrySof IQ ReSTOR Toric will be a powerful option to offer my cataract surgery patients where I can predictably manage their astigmatism without the need for an additional surgery."

Alcon completed its CE Mark of the AcrySof IQ ReSTOR Toric IOL during the second quarter of 2010, and this lens is now becoming available in many major markets which recognize the CE Mark. The company plans to file a Pre-Market Application (PMA) for the lens with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in early 2012.