Glaukos to Support World Glaucoma Week with Patient Education Campaign and Free Screening Initiatives

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Glaukos Corporation (NYSE: GKOS), an ophthalmic medical technology and pharmaceutical company focused on novel therapies for the treatment of glaucoma, corneal disorders and retinal diseases, today announced two new patient-centric initiatives in honor of World Glaucoma Week. World Glaucoma Week is an annual global initiative championed by the World Glaucoma Association (WGA) to raise awareness surrounding the risk and prevalence of glaucoma. As a proud sponsor of the WGA, Glaukos is launching a global education and awareness campaign and collaborating with eye care institutions across the United States to offer free glaucoma screenings. Both programs are designed to increase glaucoma awareness, testing and diagnosis.

“Glaukos is dedicated to advancing the standard of glaucoma treatment and management around the world through our considerable investment in clinical research, support of critical awareness and education initiatives and growing portfolio of transformative MIGS technologies,” said L. Jay Katz, MD, Glaukos chief medical officer. “In that spirit, we are proud to support the sight-saving work of the WGA through patient and healthcare professional education initiatives. Our goal is to help make safe, effective and impactful glaucoma care more available to a growing patient population worldwide.”

Glaukos’ education and awareness campaign, entitled “Making an iMPACT: Glaucoma Perspectives”, consists of a series of engaging video interviews with leading physicians from around the world and a glaucoma patient. Physicians interviewed include Deborah Gess Ristvedt, DO; Robert Stutman, OD; Imran Masood, FRCOphth; Alfonso Antón, MD; and L. Jay Katz, MD. Subjects covered in the physician interviews include the importance of regular glaucoma screenings, the necessity for early diagnosis and intervention, prevalence of the disease in high-risk groups and how glaucoma patients are co-managed to ensure optimal care. The patient interview provides a personal perspective on how glaucoma has impacted their life and how initiatives, such as World Glaucoma Week, educate and empower patients to take control of their care. To view the video interviews, please click here.

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases characterized by progressive, irreversible and largely asymptomatic vision loss in which elevated levels of intraocular pressure (IOP) are often associated with optic nerve damage that can cause blindness. While some glaucoma patients do not experience an increase in IOP, it is widely considered a major risk factor in glaucoma’s progression, and reduction in IOP is the only clinically proven treatment for the disease. Elevated IOP occurs when aqueous humor is not circulating normally or properly draining from the front part of the eye.

Glaukos pioneered Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS) to provide viable alternatives to traditional glaucoma treatment options, including daily administration of multiple topical prescription eye drops and complex surgeries. Glaukos’ MIGS technologies primarily involve the insertion of a micro-scale device or drug delivery system that are designed to restore the natural outflow pathways of aqueous humor and reduce IOP. Glaukos received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its first-generation MIGS device, the iStent^®, in 2012. Its second-generation iStent inject^®, which received FDA approval in 2018, and its latest iStent inject W device, which received FDA approval in 2020, include two stents preloaded in an auto-injection mechanism that facilitates stent insertion into multiple trabecular meshwork locations through a single corneal incision. The iStent and iStent inject technologies are also commercially available in Japan, Brazil, Canada, Australia, certain European Union (EU) and other countries. Glaukos is pursuing FDA approval for additional MIGS surgical and sustained pharmaceutical therapy pipeline products, all of which are investigational in the United States.

About World Glaucoma Association

The World Glaucoma Association (WGA) is an independent, impartial, ethical, global organization for glaucoma science and care. WGA’s core purpose is to eliminate glaucoma-related disability worldwide. The WGA is the largest international glaucoma association, encompassing a network of 89 Glaucoma Societies worldwide and 10 Glaucoma Industry Members with over 12,000 individual members.

About Glaukos

Glaukos (www.glaukos.com) is an ophthalmic medical technology and pharmaceutical company focused on novel therapies for the treatment of glaucoma, corneal disorders and retinal diseases. The company pioneered Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery, or MIGS, to revolutionize the traditional glaucoma treatment and management paradigm. Glaukos launched the iStent, its first MIGS device, in the United States in 2012, its next-generation iStent inject device in the United States in 2018, and most recently, the iStent inject W device in 2020. In corneal health, Glaukos’ proprietary suite of single-use, bio-activated pharmaceuticals are designed to strengthen, stabilize and reshape the cornea through a process called corneal collagen cross-linking to treat corneal ectatic disorders and correct refractive conditions. Glaukos is leveraging its platform technology to build a comprehensive and proprietary portfolio of micro-scale surgical and pharmaceutical therapies in glaucoma, corneal health and retinal disease.

Media Contact:
Cassandra Dump
(619) 971-1887
Cassy@pascalecommunications.com

Investor Contact:
Chris Lewis
Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Strategy & Development
(949) 481-0510
clewis@glaukos.com