Alcon Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Alcon stock dips on Q3 misses, tightened guidance

Alcon (NYSE: ALC) + shares fell this morning on third-quarter results that missed the consensus forecast.

Shares of ALC dipped 6.9% at $69.82 apiece in early-morning trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was up 1%.

The Geneva, Switzerland-based company posted profits of $204 million in the quarter. That equals 41¢ per share on sales of $2.3 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2023. Alcon recorded a 75.9% bottom-line gain on sales growth of 8.4%.

However, Alcon fell shy of Wall Street expectations in the third quarter. Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share of 66¢ fell 1¢ shy of projections. Sales came in just short of the forecast of $2.35 billion as well.

Alcon’s surgical business grew by 5% in the quarter while vision care sales increased by 13%. Demand for advanced intraocular le…

The best medtech innovations of 2023

Recognize this medtech innovation? It was one of the nominees for the Galien Foundation’s 2023 Prix Galien USA Awards. [Image courtesy of Boston Scientific]

The Galien Foundation’s 2023 Prix Galien USA Awards recognized a first-of-its-kind cancer diagnostic and other medtech innovations.

Announced last week, the Galien Foundation’s annual Prix Galien awards highlight devices, biotechnology and pharmaceutical products designed to improve the human condition.

“The outstanding quality of the submissions is a testament to the promising future of the life sciences industries,” said former Johnson & Johnson CEO and Chair Alex Gorsky — one of the awards jurors — in a news release announcing the nominees.

Last year’s winners included Cala Health, Abbott, Edwards Lifesciences and Roche. (See all of 2022’s nominees here, including many that were nominated again in 2023.)

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CAPA doesn’t have to be a four-letter word, Medtronic Quality/Regulatory Director Kathryn Merrill says

[Illustration by Vitalii Vodolazskyi via Adobe Stock]

Medtronic Quality/Regulatory Program Director Kathryn Merrill is a problem-solver’s problem solver.

Right now, the problem she wants to solve is the way device manufacturers approach corrective and preventative actions — CAPA, an abbreviation that can trigger an avalanche of documentation and headaches for medtech engineers.

For five years, Merrill’s been part of a Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) team developing a new approach to CAPA, stemming out of conversations across the medtech industry and beyond. The goal was to implement improvements in months instead of years and allow teams to be more proactive.

“I’ve been at Medtronic for 26 years and very often we’d say, ‘Hey, I think we’re making this more complicated than it needs to be,'” said Merrill, who is lead co-author of MDIC̵…

Medtech jobs: The world’s largest medical device companies are hiring

Medical device companies are trying to fill thousand of medtech jobs. [Photo by ijeab – stock.adobe.com]

The world’s largest medical device companies are still hiring for medtech jobs despite layoffs in tech and other industries.

Medtech developers — and medtech jobs — are resilient, with the industry’s COVID-19 pandemic performance only bolstering its recession-proof reputation.

That’s not to say there haven’t been job cuts in medtech, led by thousands of layoffs at Philips as it struggles with a massive recall of deadly respiratory devices. But most medical device manufacturers are still hiring, and in some cases they can’t attract enough candidates to fill every vacancy in a tight labor market.

Stryker, for example, grew to approximately 51,000 employees as of the end of 2022, increasing its headcount by nearly 11 percent last year. Boston Scientific reported nearl…

Alcon says sales could grow up to 8% this year

Alcon (SIX/NYSE:ALC) reported fourth-quarter revenues that beat the consensus of Wall Street analysts, with earnings in-line with expectations.

The Geneva-based eye care tech company yesterday evening also released 2023 guidance that was ahead of The Street’s consensus. However, Alcon’s actual Q4 results showed slowing sales growth as the company swung to a loss.

Alcon lost $97 million, or 20¢ per share, off of $2.2 billion during the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2022. The company swung to a loss compared with Q4 2021, when it earned $139 million, or 28¢ per share. Sales were up 1%.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, Alcon had a Q4 EPS of 42¢. The result was in-line with The Street, where analysts expected EPS of 42¢ and sales of $2.15 billion.

Alcon’s Surgical business sales were up 1%, to $1.3 billion. The Vision Care business was up 1%, to $881 million.

“The Alcon team delivered a strong 2022 despite a consistentl…

Alcon to pay $199M to J&J to settle patent dispute

The LenSx laser system cataract procedures [Image courtesy of Alcon]Alcon (SIX/NYSE: ALC) recently announced that it has settled a patent dispute with J&J Surgical Vision.

The $199 million settlement, announced Feb. 12, ends a lawsuit that J&J had filed in June 2020 in U.S. District Court in Delaware. J&J Surgical Vision had claimed that Alcon femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery devices, including the company’s LenSx device, infringed on one or more claims in 12 of J&J’s U.S. patents.

On top of the one-time payment, the two companies have exchanged cross-licenses of certain intellectual property and other mutually agreed covenants and releases. The payment secures the patent rights for Alcon. It also resolves various worldwide intellectual property disputes relating to this matter.

Alcon acquired LenSx Lasers in 2010.

Alcon launches reusable lens for astigmatism

Alcon (NYSE:ALC) announced today that it plans to launch its Total30 reusable contact lens for people with Astigmatism.

Geneva, Switzerland-based Alcon designed Total30 with its proprietary water gradient material. This enables a gradual increase to nearly 100% water on the outermost surface.

With this technology, the lens ensures that nothing touches the eye but a “gentle cushion of moisture,” according to a news release.

The Alcon lenses also feature two other types of proprietary technologies from the company. Celligent technology helps resist bacteria and lipid deposits for a clean lens throughout the duration of a month. Alcon’s Precision Balance 8|4 lens design provides on-eye stability. The company said this offers “exceptionally clear and stable vision.”

“Given astigmatic contact lens wearers are more likely to experience dryness and discomfort, we designed TOTAL30 for Astigmatism to bring reusable astigmatic …

Alcon stock rises on Q3 EPS beat

Alcon (NYSE:ALC) shares ticked up this morning on third-quarter results that came in ahead of the consensus earnings forecast.

Shares of ALC rose 8% at $68.46 apiece as the market opened today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — rose 6.9%.

The Geneva, Switzerland-based company posted profits of $116 million for the quarter. That amounts to 23¢ per share on sales of $2.124 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2022.

Alcon recorded a massive bottom-line gain from profits of just $2 million this time last year. It posted sales growth of 1.9%.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share came in at 50¢. That just beat out expectations of 48¢ on Wall Street. Sales just missed as analysts projected revenues of $2.13 billion.

The company’s surgical business sales grew by 5% year-over-year. Alcon attributed this to improvements in international …

5 top ophthalmic device innovations you need to know

Innovation finds its way into all areas of medtech, and ophthalmic treatments represent another burgeoning space. [Image from Pixabay]It may not be a new wave, but medtech companies continue to improve upon technologies for the human eye.

Implants, lenses and more comprise the space’s latest innovations, with a number of companies finding new ways to fix old problems.

Here are five innovations in ophthalmic technology that have caught the eye of editors here at MassDevice:

Johnson & Johnson Vision’s drug-eluting contact lens

Johnson & Johnson Vision (NYSE:JNJ) Director of Clinica Science Dr. Brian Pall told MassDevice earlier this year that researchers considered the notion of delivering medication through contact lenses as far back as the 1960s.

[Image from Johnson & Johnson Vision]It took until 2022 for that vision to come to fruition. In March, Johnson & Johnson announced that the FDA approved its Acuvue Theravision with K…

The 24 best medical device innovations of 2022

The Galien Foundation recently announced its nominees of medical device innovations for its 2022 Prix Galien USA awards.

There are 24 medical technologies nominated for the annual award this year, up from 18 nominees in 2021.

The Galien Foundation’s annual Prix Galien awards highlight devices, biotechnology and pharmaceutical products designed to improve the human condition.

Nominees need to be FDA-approved for the market within the last five years and show major potential to affect healthcare. The winners will be announced in October at the Prix Galien USA Awards in New York City.

This year, the foundation nominated 24 medical device innovations, 22 biotechnology products and 33 pharmaceutical agents. The devices range from an intraocular lens to a bariatric stapler.

“Every year, evaluating and recognizing the amazing submissions that come through for the Prix Galien Awards is one of the greatest honors,” said Dr. Sue Des…

Alcon lowers its 2022 forecast amid strong dollar

Alcon (SIX/NYSE:ALC) posted Street-beating second quarter results but lowered its 2022 guidance amid a challenging macroeconomic environment.

The Geneva-based eye care tech giant announced yesterday evening that it earned $148 million, or 30¢ per share, off $2.22 billion in sales during the quarter ended June 30, 2022, for a bottom-line decline of 2% and a top-line gain of 5%.

Second-quarter core earnings were 63¢ per diluted share, 8¢ ahead of The Street, where analysts expected core earnings of 55¢ per share on revenue of $2.199 billion.

“We see strong demand for our innovative products by doctors, patients and consumers around the world. This, coupled with ongoing recovery across international markets, drove another quarter of strong sales growth,” Alcon CEO David Endicott said in a news release.

“Looking forward, we expect the macroeconomic environment, particularly foreign exchange, to remain challenging for the rest of the …

Proposed 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule could have a big impact on glaucoma surgeries

[Photo by Tobias Dahlberg]

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released its proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and issued a call for feedback on the proposed rule, which would take effect Jan. 1, 2023.

Medtech analyst Ryan Zimmerman and the team at BTIG went through the 2,000-page document and identified potentially market-moving changes in two areas: surgical glaucoma and advanced wound care.

CMS proposed cuts for most surgical glaucoma procedure payment rates to physicians, with double-digit losses for tube shunt revision (down 25% from $1,032 to $774), canaloplasty (down 19.9% from $761 to $610) and canaloplasty with a stent (down 11.4% from $799 to $708), according to BTIG research.

The canalplasty rate reduction would likely hit Omni surgical system developer Sight Sciences, Zimmerman said in a BTIG report. It could also give a lift to Alcon and Glaukos, which could see…