Second Sight Appoints Vice President of Research and Development

Second Sight Medical Products Inc., a developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable visual prosthetics that provide some useful vision to blind patients, has appointed David Jacques as vice president of research and development.
 
“David has over 30 years of experience in the medical and semiconductor equipment industries. Since June 2016, he has been an important contributor as a consultant to our R&D team, so I am pleased that he has joined us full-time as we execute our R&D strategy,” said Will McGuire, president and CEO of Second Sight. “David will have responsibility for all areas of research and development as we continue strengthening an organization focused on delivering new products to restore sight to an increasing population of blind individuals. David’s proven leadership skills in motivating engineering teams will complement our efforts to expand the commercial presence of the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis to ultimately address the nearly 8 million individuals worldwide who are blind due to causes that today have no treatment.”
 
David’s experience includes senior leadership roles and consulting positions at multiple medical device companies, including Stereotaxis Inc., Intuitive Surgical Inc., Volcano Corporation, and others. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona, with a bachelor of science degree in Electrical Engineering.
 
Second Sight’s Argus II System provides electrical stimulation that bypasses the defunct retinal cells and stimulates remaining viable cells inducing visual perception in individuals with severe to profound Retinitis Pigmentosa. The Argus II works by converting images captured by a miniature video camera mounted on the patient’s glasses into a series of small electrical pulses, which are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes implanted on the surface of the retina. These pulses are intended to stimulate the retina’s remaining cells, resulting in the perception of patterns of light in the brain. The patient then learns to interpret these visual patterns, thereby regaining some visual function. The Argus II is the first artificial retina to receive widespread approval, and is offered at approved centers in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
 
Second Sight’s mission is to develop, manufacture and market implantable visual prosthetics to enable blind individuals to achieve greater independence. Second Sight has developed and manufactures the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. Second Sight is currently underway in a trial to test the safety and utility of the Argus II in individuals with Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Second Sight is also developing the Orion I Visual Cortical Prosthesis to restore some vision to individuals who are blind due to causes other than preventable or treatable conditions. The company’s U.S. headquarters is in Sylmar, Calif., and its European headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland.