2 "NEW" Contact Lenses (but not really)
redesigns, really.
the 1st is "Acuvue Advance Plus". boy, this is gonna confuse patients. i'll give you an abbreviated history of the Acuvue Advance line of products from my point of view:
around 1999/2000 Acuvue Advance (made of galyfilcon) was released. quickly I started seeing something I had never seen before in patients wearing soft contacts: LIPID DEPOSITS. we had all seen protein deposits before but lipid deposits were new, to me anyway. something like 1/5 of all patients I put in that lens came back in 3 days with uncomfortable, blurry lenses with white deposits all over them. Vistakon's official response was: "rub more". uhhh, ok. then RIGHT AFTER THAT (2003?) suddenly Acuvue Oasys (made of senofilcon) comes out. normally its like 10 years between MAJOR spherical lens releases from a manufacturer. this time it was like 2.5. hmmmm. guess they knew they had a dog.
now today I learn about "Acuvue Advance Plus" being released. guess they finally figured out the lipid problem & solved it in the galyfilcon. course they're not telling us exactly WHAT is different, but assumedly its some sort of coating, since I remember them touting that Advance "didn't have any coatings"...but later Oasys did. they just say that the new "Plus" version has "improved cleanliness"...assumedly they imply better lipid deposit resistance...AKA COATING. Acuvue Advanced will no longer be available starting in Nov. patients are gonna be confused. they're gonna think its a "new" lens & they're gonna start asking for it. then the patients who are happy with the OLD Advance lens will probably be UN-happy with the redesign. I'd have just dropped the thing since Oasys is the worldwide bestselling contact lens...but what do I know? why re-brand/re-design & re-release your biggest failure lens? I don't get it. Guess they don't wanna "waste" all the R&D. is Acuvue Advance "Plus" gonna be better than Oasys? a better lens OR a better seller? doubt it. I don't see the point in this move.
ACUVUE ADVANCE PLUS (with "Hydroclear Plus"...thats not redundant at all)
Here's a blurry (how appropriate? haha) photo of the new box from an online retailer who doesn't have it yet to sell:
Then there's also the Purevision 2 lens. Oh, excuse me...Purevision 2 HD, since every lens manufacturer is naming lenses to direct-market to patients nowadays, and "HD" implies "looks cool", so gotta have that in there. patients love technology, and who wouldn't want to see in "HD" !!?? who, indeed.
as far as I can discern from the purposely-vague information B+L (and Vistakon, too for that matter) puts out about the lens, its their same old Purevision material (balafilcon) from what? 1995? but with a thinner profile, smoother edges & "reduced halos & glare", which to me implies increased optic zone size. I guess those are all good qualities to have. I'd have just liked it better if they'd have just called it "PV2" and left off the "HD" moniker.
PUREVISION 2 "HIGH DEFINITION"
so...look for these "new" products to be advertised soon. I'll probably give PV2 a shot at our office. don't know about Acuvue Advance "Plus", tho. Can't get real excited over that one.
the 1st is "Acuvue Advance Plus". boy, this is gonna confuse patients. i'll give you an abbreviated history of the Acuvue Advance line of products from my point of view:
around 1999/2000 Acuvue Advance (made of galyfilcon) was released. quickly I started seeing something I had never seen before in patients wearing soft contacts: LIPID DEPOSITS. we had all seen protein deposits before but lipid deposits were new, to me anyway. something like 1/5 of all patients I put in that lens came back in 3 days with uncomfortable, blurry lenses with white deposits all over them. Vistakon's official response was: "rub more". uhhh, ok. then RIGHT AFTER THAT (2003?) suddenly Acuvue Oasys (made of senofilcon) comes out. normally its like 10 years between MAJOR spherical lens releases from a manufacturer. this time it was like 2.5. hmmmm. guess they knew they had a dog.
now today I learn about "Acuvue Advance Plus" being released. guess they finally figured out the lipid problem & solved it in the galyfilcon. course they're not telling us exactly WHAT is different, but assumedly its some sort of coating, since I remember them touting that Advance "didn't have any coatings"...but later Oasys did. they just say that the new "Plus" version has "improved cleanliness"...assumedly they imply better lipid deposit resistance...AKA COATING. Acuvue Advanced will no longer be available starting in Nov. patients are gonna be confused. they're gonna think its a "new" lens & they're gonna start asking for it. then the patients who are happy with the OLD Advance lens will probably be UN-happy with the redesign. I'd have just dropped the thing since Oasys is the worldwide bestselling contact lens...but what do I know? why re-brand/re-design & re-release your biggest failure lens? I don't get it. Guess they don't wanna "waste" all the R&D. is Acuvue Advance "Plus" gonna be better than Oasys? a better lens OR a better seller? doubt it. I don't see the point in this move.
ACUVUE ADVANCE PLUS (with "Hydroclear Plus"...thats not redundant at all)
Here's a blurry (how appropriate? haha) photo of the new box from an online retailer who doesn't have it yet to sell:
Then there's also the Purevision 2 lens. Oh, excuse me...Purevision 2 HD, since every lens manufacturer is naming lenses to direct-market to patients nowadays, and "HD" implies "looks cool", so gotta have that in there. patients love technology, and who wouldn't want to see in "HD" !!?? who, indeed.
as far as I can discern from the purposely-vague information B+L (and Vistakon, too for that matter) puts out about the lens, its their same old Purevision material (balafilcon) from what? 1995? but with a thinner profile, smoother edges & "reduced halos & glare", which to me implies increased optic zone size. I guess those are all good qualities to have. I'd have just liked it better if they'd have just called it "PV2" and left off the "HD" moniker.
PUREVISION 2 "HIGH DEFINITION"
so...look for these "new" products to be advertised soon. I'll probably give PV2 a shot at our office. don't know about Acuvue Advance "Plus", tho. Can't get real excited over that one.
ok so i just met with the vistakon rep about this plus thing. if they've seen this blog post they didnt mention it haha! turns out they just want to improve the product (admirable) and are offering a 24-pack, which is the 1st of its kid in a 2-week modality. designed to increase patient compliance (also admirable). so...not so bad.
ReplyDelete02/17/11 PV2 "HD" stil not available here. should be soon, tho.
ReplyDeletebeen Rx'ing Acuvue Advance Plus some. its an ok lens. no deposit complaints, so thats good! one good thing is the flatter 8.7 BC works pretty well on some flatter corneas, where as the flat 8.8 Oasys usually does not work very well IMO. i guess b/c of the stiffer modulus of the Oasys? so the Plus has become sort of a tweener lens. don't Rx it much but it fills a niche. doubt J&J is raking in the $$ on Plus, tho.
ok so now i finally have a few patients in PV2HD. its a pretty good product, better than PV. better optics & better comfort. its on par with Air Optix Aqua, which is my current favorite spherical soft lens. so PV2...good product. will be using it more.
ReplyDeletei re-read this post and i am a cynical cuss sometimes, aren't i? haha...well i can change my mind. its my perogative
Just met with and Acuvue rep whose response to my questions about the difference between coatings on the advance plus and the oasys was 'I don't know' and 'the company won't tell us'... saying the information is 'proprietary'. I hope Vistakon is reading your blog bc their Doctor support apparently sucks...
ReplyDelete