Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. a developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable visual prosthetics that are intended to provide some useful vision to blind patients announced that the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System has been implanted in the first patient in Asia through an exclusive distribution partnership with Orient Europharma Co., Ltd. (OEP) and with charitable support from the Hong-Lu Foundation in Taiwan. The Argus II was provided under special import permits authorized by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA).
The surgical procedure was performed by Dr. Yih-Shiou Hwang and his team at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH), in Linkou, Taiwan in a 40-year-old patient who suffers from blindness caused by retinal degeneration. Dr. Paulo Stanga, Consultant, Ophthalmologist & Vitreoretinal Surgeon at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, UK supervised the implantation.
“We are very pleased to expand the availability of the Argus II to Asia as we continue to offer our technology to patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), providing them with the potential opportunity to lead more independent lives,” said Will McGuire, President and CEO of Second Sight. “We look forward to supporting broader access to the Argus II to patients with RP throughout Asia and the other regions we serve.”