Glaukos: More Than 1 Million iStents Implanted Worldwide

Glaukos Corporation’s iStent product line has achieved a significant milestone: implantion in more than 1 million procedures worldwide. This milestone (market leading, according to the company) is the result of decades of investment from Glaukos as the founder and pioneer of the micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) market.

“I am proud of this tremendous achievement for our company and the MIGS marketplace, reflecting decades of investment and successful advancement of our strategic vision to transform the treatment of chronic, debilitating eye diseases through development of novel, sustainable therapies,” said Thomas Burns, Glaukos chairman and CEO. “I would like to recognize our customers and employees around the world who have poured countless hours into making this market-leading achievement a reality and am grateful for their continued support going forward as we strive to create transformative platform technologies designed to improve the standard-of-care and meet unmet patient needs.”

Glaukos’ family of iStent technologies is supported by more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and 20-plus years of clinical and commercial experience since its inception. The company believes it offers the industry’s most comprehensive offering of minimally-invasive, tissue-sparing glaucoma solutions, supporting its goal to provide a full range of options to fit surgeons’ individual glaucoma treatment algorithms that offer the most favorable short- and long-term benefit-to-risk calculus at every stage of disease progression, from ocular hypertension through refractory disease, and in both combo-cataract and standalone procedures. 
 
“One million iStents implanted is a tremendous accomplishment and I’m grateful to Glaukos for their continued dedication, investment and pioneering spirit to advance the development of innovative glaucoma technologies designed to improve the treatment paradigm for the benefit of patients worldwide,” said Ike Ahmed M.D., professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at John A. Moran Eye Center in Utah, and chief Innovation Officer at Prism Eye Institute in Toronto, Canada. “As one of the early adopters, I have experienced first-hand how iStent, as the first MIGS device, and subsequent generations have fundamentally revolutionized the way we think and treat glaucoma over the last decade. Today, the disease state is more manageable, and we are intervening earlier with micro-invasive surgical options. It’s been an incredible journey thus far and I’m excited to see what the future holds for our glaucoma patients.”
 
“iStent technologies have allowed me to change the way I treat my patients for the better,” said John Berdahl, M.D., of Vance Thompson Vision, South Dakota. “Before the introduction of iStent and MIGS, we were limited to eye drops, which we know to be problematic for patients, or invasive surgery that carried more risk than needed for mild-to-moderate glaucoma. iStent filled that gap between eye drops and invasive surgery. In my practice today, iStent inject W is my most commonly used surgical option for glaucoma patients undergoing cataract surgery. We now have patient data out past 9 years in my practice showing the iStent is still effective and safe at lowering IOP and reducing medications. I’m eagerly anticipating the exciting future innovations from Glaukos.”
 
Glaukos is an ophthalmic medical technology and pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing therapies to treat glaucoma, corneal disorders, and retinal diseases. Glaukos first developed Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS) as an alternative to the traditional glaucoma treatment paradigm, launching its first MIGS device commercially in 2012, and continues to develop a portfolio of technologically distinct and leverageable platforms to support ongoing pharmaceutical and medical device innovations. Products or product candidates for each of these platforms are designed to advance the standard of care through better treatment options across the areas of glaucoma, corneal disorders, and retinal diseases.