Innovation
Driven by our purpose of helping people see brilliantly, we transform eye care possibilities into therapeutic realities through the discovery and development of innovative eye care products and treatments.
Sight Matters
We are dedicated to helping people see brilliantly by offering the widest array of eye care and eye health offerings with products that can treat the entire eye at each stage of life.
1.7 B
have presbyopia1
_________
WHAT CAUSES PRESBYOPIA?
Presbyopia is the gradual loss of the eye’s ability to actively focus on close objects. It occurs with the natural course of aging – generally starting around the age of 40 – and requires some form of vision correction to deal with its effect.
20 M
people are blind
from cataracts2
_________
WHAT CAUSES CATARACTS?
Most cataracts develop from advanced aging.3 As the body ages, the lens of the eye, which consists of water and protein, can become cloudy due to protein clumping together, scattering the light landing on the retina and causing visual impairment. When the cataract blocks light, vision is disrupted.4
153 M
have uncorrected
refractive errors2
_________
THE BURDEN OF UNCORRECTED REFRACTIVE ERRORS
More than 12.8 million children globally, ages 5 to 15, are visually impaired due to uncorrected refractive errors as a result of nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism – conditions which, with a simple eye exam, can be treated with contact lenses or surgical procedure.5
1.4 B
people worldwide have
symptoms of dry eye6
_________
WHAT CAUSES DRY EYES?
Dry eyes are caused by a lack of sufficient moisture in the eyes because of an inadequate quality or quantity of tears.7 If the eyes are not lubricated enough, either by low quantity or poor quality of tears, it causes discomfort and leads to irritation.
Experience Our Range of Products
As the largest eye care devices company in the world, Alcon has a wide array of offerings within vision care and ophthalmic surgery. Explore each category for information about our range of products and other resources.
Contact Lenses & Solutions
Contact lenses are a way to get clear vision while having the freedom and flexibility to move in many environments. Find the right contact lenses and contact lens solution for your vision and lifestyle needs.
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Eye Care Products
Discover products for all aspects of vision care. From dry eyes to eye allergies, find relief or manage your eye health with our eye care products.
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Cataracts
Cataracts occur when protein accumulates in the lens of the eye, resulting in blurred or hazy vision. Cataracts are a common and natural part of aging, but there are many options for addressing cataracts, along with improved vision.
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Glaucoma
LASIK & Refractive Technology
LASIK, or laser eye surgery, is a procedure to treat common vision problems like nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. Refractive Technology is used in corrective eye surgery of refractive errors like hyperopia, myopia, astigmatism and presbyopia. Find advanced tools and devices to meet the requirements of both your therapeutic procedures and your patients.
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Vitreoretinal
Vitreoretinal surgery restores, preserves and enhances vision for eye conditions affecting the retina, macula and vitreous fluid. Explore the most comprehensive portfolio of innovative ophthalmic surgical products to achieve optimal results.
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Featured Story
Digital Services + Next-Gen Solutions = An Unmatched Ecosystem of Value
Eye care is growing more digital by the day. That’s why Alcon Intelligent Services is dedicated to evolving best-in-class services to meet today’s customer demands and tomorrow’s patient needs. Through next-gen offerings such as Intelligent Services Solutions (ISS), we are poised to deliver greater connectivity and closer customer access to our most important asset—our people.
Digital Services + Next-Gen Solutions = An Unmatched Ecosystem of Value
Eye care is growing more digital by the day. That’s why Alcon Intelligent Services is dedicated to evolving best-in-class services to meet today’s customer demands and tomorrow’s patient needs. Through next-gen offerings such as Intelligent Services Solutions (ISS), we are poised to deliver greater connectivity and closer customer access to our most important asset—our people.
A Pipeline for the Future
R&D is the foundation for how we improve people’s lives. We’ve made one of the largest R&D commitments of any surgical and vision care company, with more than 1,800 associates worldwide researching and developing treatments for vision conditions and eye diseases. In addition to our in-house R&D capabilities, we consider external innovation opportunities and routinely screen for companies developing emerging technologies that could enhance our existing product offerings or lead to innovative new products for eye disorders. Our pipeline has never been stronger as we aim to strengthen our Vision Care and Surgical portfolios.
CATARACTS
Including nuclear cataract, posterior subcapsular cataract and cortical cataract
REFRACTIVE ERRORS
Including diagnosis and treatments for near-sightedness, far-sightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia
VITREORETINAL DISORDERS
Including all needed surgical equipment as instrumentation, lasers and vision systems
OCULAR HEALTH
Including non-Rx dry eye drops, contact lens care solutions, ocular vitamins, non-Rx allergy drops, and non-Rx red eye drops
EXTERNAL INNOVATION OPPORTUNITIES
Are you interested in an alliance or in-licensing partnership that could enrich our pipeline and enhance the field of ocular health and disease management? Do you have an idea for which you are seeking seed stage funding? Alcon is equipped to engage in external innovation through a variety of different mechanisms, including the Alcon Seed Fund (ASF) for early stage technologies and Business Development and Licensing (BD&L) for emerging product innovations and opportunities.
ALCON RESEARCH INSTITUTE
In 1981, Alcon set out to help support research in eye health and to expand the frontiers of vision sciences globally – from this concept Alcon Research Institute (ARI) was born. Since then, the ARI has had a significant impact on the study of ocular diseases and has become a bridge to building partnerships with leading researchers around the world.
Training and Education
Alcon provides Eye Care Professionals comprehensive eye health education, hands-on experiential learning opportunities and cutting-edge virtual reality technology for immersive training experiences at our state-of-the-art facilities around the world.
We offer 10 Alcon Experience Centers (AECs), 26 training centers and 42 wet labs from Fort Worth, Texas, to Barcelona, Spain, all with a focus on helping more people See Brilliantly.
Training and Education
Alcon provides Eye Care Professionals comprehensive eye health education, hands-on experiential learning opportunities and cutting-edge virtual reality technology for immersive training experiences at our state-of-the-art facilities around the world.
We offer 10 Alcon Experience Centers (AECs), 26 training centers and 42 wet labs from Fort Worth, Texas, to Barcelona, Spain, all with a focus on helping more people See Brilliantly.
REFERENCES
1. Global Prevalence of Presbyopia and Vision Impairment, 2018 Oct;125(10):1492-1499. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha
2. World Health Organization (WHO), www.who.int/blindness
3. American Academy of Ophthalmolgoy. What are Cataracts. https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-are-cataracts [Accessed March 2019].
4. Web MD. A Visual Guide to Cataracts. https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/cataracts/ss/slideshow-cataracts [Accessed March 2019].
5. National Center for Biotechnology Information, Global magnitude of visual impairment caused by uncorrected refractive errors in 2004. [link] [Accessed March 2019]
6. Market Scope 2021 Dry Eye Report
7. National Eye Institute. Facts About Dry Eye. https://nei.nih.gov/health/dryeye/dryeye [Accessed March 2019].