Barcelona, June 19, 2018 – Alcon, the global leader in eye care and a division of Novartis, announced today that since its opening in the second half of 2017, the Alcon Experience Center (AEC) in Barcelona, Spain, has offered 31 courses and trained 753 eye care professionals (ECPs) in the last 9 months. The Barcelona AEC is a first-of-its-kind eye health education and training facility in Europe providing dynamic and tailored medical training programs for ophthalmologists, optometrists, nurses and residents as well as internal training for Alcon associates.

“We are proud of what we achieved at the AEC, the first Center in Europe offering eye care professionals an engaging approach to eye health education in a unique practice environment,” said Ian Bell, Region President, Alcon Europe, Middle-East, Africa. “The Barcelona AEC further advances our mission of helping people see better thus contributing to the development of the next generation of ophthalmologists and optometrists. By enhancing access to the latest innovations, we help shape the future of eye care for the benefits of millions of patients – something Alcon has been dedicated to for more than 70 years.”

The Barcelona AEC reflects continued investment to drive science and innovation in partnership with the broader eye care community. In fact, the comprehensive programs, including hands-on training and innovative education channels like virtual reality and advanced simulators, are developed in collaboration with medical societies, ophthalmology organizations and academic institutions across all therapeutic areas - cataract, refractive, retina and glaucoma. Additional courses include biometry, medical writing and clinical research.

“There is still an important unmet need in treating eye conditions. For example, fewer than 15 percent of cataract patients are currently treated to correct astigmatism at the time of their cataract surgery^1,2,” said Dr. Miguel Angel Teus, Professor of Ophthalmology, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Director of Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Universitario Principe de Asturias, Madrid, Spain, and member of the AEC faculty. “With this robust series of tailored courses, this center represents a unique collaboration between academia and industry and provides the necessary resources to teach new techniques and help healthcare professionals in the pursuit of excellence in their practice.”

The Barcelona AEC is part of a larger network; Alcon brings training and educational programs across the world through the Alcon Experience Academy (AEA). With about 80 facilities including AECs and wet labs, the AEA reflects Alcon’s continued commitment to drive excellence in ophthalmology and optometry through medical education and optimize patient outcomes in partnership with the eye care medical community. Many of these centers are also available at no cost to medical Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) so they can benefit from using the latest eye care technologies to train their volunteer staff.

About the Barcelona Alcon Experience Center

• ~1,000 square meter state-of-the-art facility located in the center of Barcelona, Spain.
• More than 100 internal and external training courses are planned every year for ophthalmologists, eye care professionals, students, nurses, scientific associations and Alcon associates.
• Four dedicated classrooms for didactic presentations and a large-capacity auditorium to accommodate groups of up to 100 people.
• One dry lab area designed for training and practicing the basics in cataract surgical techniques using Alcon’s comprehensive intraocular lens (IOL) portfolio and advanced ophthalmic equipment with the goal of improving ophthalmologists’ ability to enhance patient outcomes with advanced surgical technology and lens implantation. Features three Cataract Refractive Suites with Verion^® Image Guided System, LenSx^® Laser with Verion^® Digital Marker L, LuxOR^® LX3 with Q-VUE^® Ophthalmic Microscope, Centurion^® Vision System and ORA SYSTEM^® with VerifEye^® Technology.
• One wet lab area with 12 stations for training in cataract surgical procedures with LuxOR^® LX3 Ophthalmic Microscope and Centurion^®; and 3 workstations for retina surgery (vitrectomy) featuring Constellation^® Vision Systems and Ngenuity^® 3D Visualization System, an innovative platform for Digitally Assisted Vitreoretinal Surgery (DAVS) designed for visualization of the back of the eye. Artificial eyes and virtual reality drive the training in surgical glaucoma and Microinvasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGs).
• A dedicated diagnostic corner, featuring the latest innovations to diagnose surgical and vision correction needs including a fully equipped refractive suite for advanced training in refractive surgical techniques (LASIK), a tonometer and pachymeter, Scheimpflug camera topographer, biometer, corneal topographer and a lens fitting corner.