OIS Podcast | Ophthalmology's leading Podcast

Harrow isn’t a household name (yet), but eye care professionals have trusted its products for over a decade. The Nashville-based company produces Dexycu, an intraocular steroid; Iopidine for intraocular pressure control; and most recently, five Novartis products that Harrow acquired in December 2022. Rob Rothman, MD, caught up with Harrow founder and CEO Mark Baum to find out how he grew the compa...

Endogena Therapeutics has developed a novel approach to regenerative medicine that’s not only scientifically compelling, but practical. Endogena’s technology unlocks the body’s own stem cells for controlled tissue repair by small molecules. Its products use a dosing schedule that could move easily into the system already in place for intravitreal injections. CEO Matthias Steger, PhD, MBA, sat down...

“You can see and feel a buzz within the company right now,” said Andrew Stewart, President, Global Pharmaceuticals and International Consumer, at Bausch + Lomb. Bausch + Lomb’s current momentum stems not only from new leadership, but also from recent collaborations, partnerships, and acquisitions. Stewart and Yehia Hashad, MD, Executive Vice President of Research & Development and Chief Medica...

OIS Podcast host Carey Powers caught up with four ophthalmology execs and one principal investigator to talk about some of the most exciting developments in retina R&D. Her guests include: Houman David Hemmati, MD, PhD, Cofounder and Chief Medical Officer of Optigo Biotherapeutics    Michael Tsipursky, MD, CEO and Cofounder of Revive Biotech Michael Singer, MD, Clinical Professor of Ophthalmol...

OIS Podcast host Carey Powers speaks with four CEOs from leading retina-focus companies to talk about all things innovation. Her guests include: •  Kerrie Brady, BPharm, President and CEO of OcuTerra •  Rich Small, CEO of NeuroTech Pharmaceuticals •  Kester Nahen, PhD, CEO of Notal Vision •  Brad Doerschuk, President and CEO of InFocus Clinical OcuTerra is developing OTT166, a novel small molecule...

At-home OCT enables daily monitoring of patients with neovasular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other patients that need a lot of follow-ups. With host Carey Powers, Dr. Anat Loewenstein dives into at-home OCT innovation, application, and adoption. Dr. Loewenstein is Head of the Department of Ophthalmology and Vice Dean at Tel Aviv Medical Center. She’s also a fellowship-trained vitreo...

Keith Valentine is the first and only visually impaired head of a national sight loss organization in the UK. As the President and CEO of Vision Foundation, London’s leading sight loss charity, Valentine guides an organization that provides services for blind and visually impaired people countrywide. He also has plans to increase the organization’s research commitment. In March 2023, Vision Founda...

Two recent drug approvals changed the game for ocular surface disease: Xdemvy (lotilaner ophthalmic solution) 0.25 percent (Tarsus Pharmaceuticals) for Demodex blepharitis, and Miebo (perfluorohexyloctane ophthalmic solution) from Bausch + Lomb and Novaliq for evaporative dry eye disease.   On today’s podcast, two ocular surface disease experts talk about these and other developments related to dr...

Yari Mitchell spent nearly 13 years with AcuFocus, an ophthalmic device company, before overseeing its acquisition by Bausch + Lomb. As head of Y Factor Consulting, she now helps innovators move their product from the lab to a funded company. Greg Kunst, President and CEO of Aurion Biotech, a cell therapy company, led the start-up to a $120 million raise in 2022. Both Mitchell and Kunst sat down w...

Wesley Jackson, PhD, spent years conducting post-doctoral research and writing grants, all the while setting the wheels in motion to launch Valitor. Valitor is developing VLTR-557 a long-lasting anti-VEGF. The technology platform, a multivalent polymer (MVP), is integral to VLTR-557. With Firas Rahhal, MD, Dr. Jackson shares why he stuck with the science behind Valitor during his PhD studies and b...

Aziz Mottiwala, Chief Commercial Officer of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, says the company looks for honest unmet needs when deciding what targets to explore. It also looks for opportunities to be the first or the best. The company may meet both objectives with TP-03, an antiparasitic agent developed to treat Demodex blepharitis, among other conditions. Mottiwala describes lotilaner, the molecule behind...

Daniela Ferrara, Principal Medical Director at Genentech, calls her extensive medical training in Brazil her “north star.” Yet, she was frustrated by the limitations of clinical practice.   “Having patients go blind under my watch, I realized I would never defeat blindness through practice,” she said. She turned her attention to clinical research, where her work could potentially improve the healt...

Host Carey Powers caught up with two digital health experts right after the Digital Ophthalmic Society (DOS) Digital Day program at the recent ASCRS conference in San Diego, California: Ranya Habash, MD, cofounder of MetaMed, DOS board member, and CEO of LifeLong Vision SPAC; and David Rhew, Global Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Healthcare at Microsoft. On today’s podcast, the two tho...

Innovation happens in labs, workshops, and garages worldwide. How does it happen in a global enterprise like Johnson & Johnson? Christoph Vonwiller, President of the Asia Pacific Region for Johnson & Johnson Vision, sheds light on that topic during a conversation with host Sophia Pathai, MD, PhD. As he sees it, start-ups and academic researchers stay laser-focused on solving a specific pro...

Brian Culley, CEO of Lineage Cell Therapeutics, describes his company’s approach as “replace and restore.” In certain settings, replacing whole cells may provide restorative benefits that go beyond small molecule drugs, or even anti-VEGF therapies. Replacing dysfunctional or lost cell types with manufactured cells of the same type can restore activity. That means a potential reversal of disease pr...

For today’s episode, the newest addition to the OIS Podcast team, Carey Powers, sits down with the newest additions to the Staar Surgical team: Warren Foust, Chief Operating Officer; and Magda Michna, PhD, Chief Clinical, Regulatory, and Medical Affairs Officer. Starr has led the way in implantable lenses for over 40 years, but like many medical device companies, not many patients have heard of th...

Nataša Jovic has led marketing strategies for retina products since the launch of Visudyne. Approved by the FDA in 2002, Visudyne was the first commercially available therapy to treat wet AMD.   Today, Jovic applies her scientific background and retina experience to lead marketing and commercial operations for RetinAI, a software company that supports R&D initiatives. As a retina specialist, O...

Cedric Francois, MD, PhD, is the cofounder, CEO, and president of Apellis, the company behind Syfovre, the first FDA-approved treatment for geographic atrophy. Like many, his path to the top of a successful publicly traded pharmaceutical company did not come fast or easy. He learned the hard way not to rely on “soft commitments” when funding a new venture. He also learned that good instincts and a...

Jodbhir (Jod) Mehta, PhD, is the Head of the Tissue Engineering and Stem Cell Group at the  Singapore Eye Research Institute and Head of the Corneal Service and Senior Consultant in  the Refractive Service of the Singapore National Eye Center (SNEC). Dr. Mehta, a corneal and refractive surgery expert, has spent most of his career in Singapore, a small, thriving nation with one of the most successf...

When Barry Linder, MD, was an ophthalmologist with Kaiser Permanente, he saw a familiar pattern. Patients with dry eye disease usually had Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). They were advised to place a wet warm washcloth over the eyelids twice a day. They’d inevitably abandon the protocol after a few days. Thinking there had to be a better way, he developed the EyeGenie, a simple but effective ey...

If ophthalmology clinical trials were burgers, mitomycin would be the mustard at the table of every U.S. restaurant with a burger on the menu.* Using this analogy, Mitsol, developed and manufactured by Mobius Therapeutics, is the only FDA-approved mitomycin-c “mustard” formulation with an ophthalmic indication. In reality, the mitomycin story in ophthalmology is more complicated than that, says Ed...

In pharma, it takes many failures to achieve one breakthrough. Dompé, a family-owned global biopharmaceutical company, focuses on long-term success, knowing those wins impact thousands or even millions of patients. Gianluca Rossetti, Strategic Planning & Corporate Business Development Director at Dompé, was drawn by the company’s ambition, passion, and commitment to innovation and science. Tod...

Dompé, a family-owned global biopharmaceutical company with roots that date back over 150 years, built its legacy by following two principles: take calculated risks, and focus on need rather than precedent. Georgea Pasedis, PharmD, RPh, Dompé’s Senior Vice President and Global Head of Medical Affairs, moved into her current role by following similar principles. After earning her PharmD and practic...

As Vice President and General Manager of U.S. Surgical for Bausch + Lomb, Anthony Wallace is involved in virtually all things surgical. His day-to-day includes strategy, portfolio planning, R&D alignment, acquisitions, pricing and contracting, sales and marketing, and supply chain. On top of all that, he’s one of the key executives leading Bausch + Lomb’s five-year charge: double the number of...

Today’s podcast shines the spotlight on the front of the eye, focusing new treatments and approaches to dry eye disease, blepharitis, and Sjogren's Syndrome, to name a few. Kelly Nichols, OD, PhD, dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry, guides a panel of four clinical and industry experts through a robust conversation on ocular surface disease. They start by shari...