Alcon transforms eye care possibilities into therapeutic realities through the discovery and development of innovative eye care products and treatments.
Eye Care Products
Our global team of approximately 1,800 highly skilled individuals dedicated to R&D drive our efforts to relentlessly innovate and find solutions for current and future unmet needs in eye care. Consider the following statistics regarding the growing incidence of eye disease:
• 80% of all visual impairment can be prevented, treated or cured1
• 90% of people that are visually impaired live in developing countries2
• 1.8 million people suffer from age-related macular degeneration (AMD)3
• 67 million people worldwide are affected by glaucoma 4causing irreversible loss of vision if left untreated5
Research Areas and Product Development Focus
Alcon’s leadership and future growth is driven by breakthrough innovation. Our focus is to continue to build trusted partnerships with eye care professionals around the world, offering a diversified yet focused product portfolio that serves the full lifecycle of patient needs across eye diseases, vision conditions and refractive errors.
Filling the Pipeline
We create innovative eye care treatments and prioritize our work based on unmet medical needs and a strong scientific understanding of eye diseases and conditions. With a focused pipeline that aligns with our three business groups – Surgical, Pharmaceutical and Vision Care – we are able to focus on the discovery and identification of new eye care solutions and treatments for the future.
Alcon fills the R&D pipeline through in-house development, partnerships with leading institutions, acquisitions, andin-licensing. The strategy behind our pipeline is a precise scientific approach that helps us select and advance therapies specific to disease areas of the eye, and this determines which technologies will enter our R&D portfolio. Our pipeline strategy consists of three distinct, but connected parts:
First, the strategy is built around specific unmet medical needs within our four therapeutic areas:
• Glaucoma, Cataract & Refractive Error, Retina, and External Disease.
• Second, Alcon identifies the short-term and long-term response strategy to the unmet needs.
• Third, specific research targets are selected using a Proof of Concept approach.
