Perth, Australia. Wednesday 16th February 2005: Biomedical...

Perth, Australia. Wednesday 16th February 2005: Biomedical devices developer, Visiomed Group Ltd (ASX: VSG) and London AIM-listed ophthalmic surgical laser group CustomVis plc have agreed to incorporate a joint venture to develop and commercialise Visiomed microEYE™ System for the screening and diagnosis of major eye diseases. Visiomed has been developing microEYE™ as a computer-based smart imaging system utilising its intellectual property that allows for the imaging of different regions of the eye using one device instead of a number of devices. The microEYE™ System is targeted at assisting clinicians in the screening and diagnosis of major eye diseases such as cataract, glaucoma, trachoma, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration. Visiomed will own 80% of the joint venture and CustomVis will have 20% of the equity. Visiomed will supply the development team and its intellectual property in the area, whilst CustomVis will provide infrastructure and engineering support through its modern, fully-equipped ophthalmic engineering facilities located in Balcatta, Western Australia. CustomVis will also have the first right to negotiate on commercial terms the contract to manufacture and distribute the microEYE™ system into international markets. Visiomed’s CEO, Dr Saliba Sassine, said the agreement to establish the joint venture was a very positive development as it will significantly reduce microEYE™ development cost and time to market, whilst giving the group a clear strategy for manufacturing and distribution. “CustomVis is an excellent partner for Visiomed as they are a leader in solid state laser ophthalmic surgical technology and have strong expertise and modern well equipped engineering and electronics facilities. “They also have some very interesting eye tracking technology used in their surgical equipment that could prove very interesting for licensing into the joint venture for future development,” said Dr Sassine. Visiomed’s engineers have already developed a first prototype of microEYE™ with a number of innovative features that will give the system many advantages compared with the existing system. Some of the competitive advantages will include pricing, system portability, multi-functionality for disease screening, ease of use, archiving and telemedicine connectivity.
The joint venture partners are aiming to show a microEYE™ prototype to CustomVis collaborative and distribution partners at the meeting of the American Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery in Washington in April of this year. The CEO of CustomVis, Dr Paul Van Saarlos, said that microEYE™ was well positioned to meet a number of needs and deliver clear benefits to clinicians and the broader community.