Caren Mason Staar Surgical
Caren Mason. [Image courtesy of Staar Surgical]

Staar Surgical (Nasdaq:STAA) announced today that President and CEO Caren Mason intends to retire at the end of the year.

Mason plans to retire on Dec. 31, 2022. Staar Surgical’s board appointed ophthalmic industry executive Thomas G. Frinzi to serve as president and CEO. Frinzi, the current board chair of the company, takes over on Jan. 1, 2023.

To ensure a smooth transition, Mason agreed to serve in an advisory role through Dec. 31, 2023.

Staar Surgical said in a news release that she led the company through a “significant” revitalization and growth period. Mason served in the position for more than seven years.

“On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Caren for her exceptional tenure as Staar’s president and CEO since March 2015,” said Aimee S. Weisner, chair of the board’s nominating and governance committee. “Under Caren’s leadership, Staar has achieved numerous significant milestones including accelerating average revenue growth above 25% over the past several years and gaining U.S. FDA approval of our EVO lenses earlier this year.

“At the same time, Caren has overseen a dramatic increase in shareholder value with shares of Staar increasing in value by almost 10 times during her tenure. She leaves Staar in an incredibly strong financial and market position.”

Leading Staar the “highlight” of Mason’s career

Before joining as president and CEO in March 2015, Mason served as an independent director on Staar’s board since 2014. She previously held the corner office at a number of healthcare, life sciences, diagnostics and medical device companies.

“Serving as CEO of Staar Surgical has been the highlight of my career,” said Mason. “I am proud of Staar’s accomplishments under my leadership over the past seven years, and I am grateful for the many dedicated professionals around the world who make Staar such a phenomenal company. I look forward to watching Staar’s continued success and have great confidence in Tom and the amazing Staar leadership team.”

About Thomas Frinzi

Staar Surgical appointed Frinzi to its board of directors in June 2020. He holds extensive experience in the ophthalmic space and the medical device industry.

Tom Frinzi Staar Surgical
Tom Frinzi. [Image courtesy of Staar Surgical]

“Tom is the ideal leader to serve as Staar’s next CEO,” said Weisner. “He brings more than 40 years of ophthalmic and medical device experience to his stewardship of STAAR and has the vision and expertise to continue Staar’s strong trajectory of growth and leadership position in implantable lenses for myopia. As chair of the board, Tom has been a significant contributor to Staar’s success for more than two years, and we are confident he will excel as Staar’s CEO.”

Before Staar, he served as worldwide president of surgical for Johnson & Johnson Vision. Before that, he held the role of SVP at Abbott, serving as president of Abbott Medical Optics.

Frinzi also served as president and CEO of WaveTec Vision. Before that, he held a range of positions at Bausch & Lomb, Refractec and Chiron Vision.

“I am honored to be selected to lead Staar as CEO and excited about our company’s future, especially our significant opportunity launching EVO ICL in the United States,” said Mr. Frinzi. “Caren has set the company on extremely strong footing, and I will be highly focused on continuing our global growth and ensuring Staar continues to lead the industry with innovative lens-based solutions that offer freedom from glasses and contact lenses.

“We have an incredibly strong team, a life-transforming solution for patients, and we are well positioned to continue to deliver for patients and the physicians who serve them, while also driving value for our shareholders.”

Staar Surgical sets end-of-year projections

Staar also announced today that it expects sales to range between $64 million and $66 million for the final quarter of 2022. Analysts project $65 million in revenue for the fourth quarter.

Additionally, Staar’s board created a new role, appointing Stephen Farrell as lead independent director. Farrell’s appointment becomes effective on Jan. 1, 2023. He currently serves as chair of the board’s audit committee.

Effective with Mason’s retirement, Staar reduced its board member total from seven to six.