Topcon and Oculentis join forces

Topcon and Oculentis have announced a European cooperation agreement covering sales, marketing and new product development. The deal will bring Topcon into the surgical market and give Oculentis access to Topcon's extensive sales and distribution network.

According to Mark Lansu, Director at Topcon's Surgical Business Unit, Oculentis needed distribution and Topcon wanted to get into the surgical market. "It is a very logical fit. With Topcon being one of the premiere providers of preoperative care, postoperative care and theatre products, with our microscopes. Getting into the surgical disposable market lets us offer the surgeons a one-stop shop."

Lansu said it also brings a new dimension to Topcon's customer relationship. "As an equipment company the relationship is different; it becomes a lot more intense and a lot more frequent when you are dealing with disposables. We believe this is a great way of getting closer to our customers."

The companies will work together on a combined range of products for ophthalmic surgeons, including intraocular lenses, viscoelastics and retinal liquids made by Oculentis and the diagnostic and surgical equipment for retinal and cataract applications produced by Topcon.

Oculentis will benefit from Topcon's European sales network, which covers the big five countries in Europe with its own sales force, plus subsidiary sales operations in Denmark, Poland and Sweden and a distributor network that covers the rest of the continent. The Oculentis sales team will continue to operate in Germany.

Topcon and Oculentis have also committed to jointly developing new solutions. "We are looking at the total operative procedure from preoperative to postoperative. We want to combine our knowledge to deliver, not necessarily new products, but new combinations," said Lansu.