Medical Device Network Excellence Awards 2023: Elios Vision

Cameron Hudson: Elios Vision, Inc. is a privately held medical device company headquartered in Irvine CA. The company was founded in 2021 through partnership between private investment and the leading excimer laser technology manufacturer based in Germany. The collaboration had a singular goal of bringing to market a novel excimer laser-based treatment for an eye disorder called Glaucoma.

Today, Glaucoma affects over 80 million people and is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Following over a decade of research and development, the technology, ELIOS, has evolved to become one of the fastest growing and most eagerly anticipated treatments amongst eye doctors (Ophthalmologists).

Cameron Hudson: Treating glaucoma has been a challenge for pharmaceutical and medical device companies for over 70 years. Despite decades of innovation in eye drops therapies, many patients find daily drop therapies negatively impact their lives, commonly due to undesirable side effects. As such, compliance with drop therapy remains a key obstacle in controlling the disease. More recent innovations have involved attempting to control glaucoma and, at the same time, reduce or eliminate the requirement for drops. Elios Vision is the first company to harness the power of an excimer laser for this purpose. Its technology, ELIOS, is a micro-invasive surgical procedure, commonly performed at the same time as cataract surgery. Excimer lasers have been used in refractive surgery for over 20 years, but applying the unique safety and precision of this type of laser to glaucoma has never been achieved until now. Through patience, dedication and an understanding of the market drivers, Elios Vision is poised to become one of the safest and most widely adoptable surgical treatments for glaucoma enabling patients’ broad access to treatment.

Cameron Hudson: In the next 5 years Elios Vision aims to achieve a leadership position in EU and US by expanding the glaucoma surgical treatment category by making surgical intervention more accessible to patients and more appealing for surgeons to adopt. By early 2025, Elios Vision expects to achieve approval for use in US and plans are underway for an accelerated regulatory review in China, which will open new opportunities across Asia more broadly.

Cameron Hudson: We see a positive shift in surgeon attitudes towards proactive surgical intervention driven by a wider recognition of the negative effects on patient well-being and quality of life associated with drop therapies. Another catalyst for this shift comes from the development of safer ways to treat Glaucoma surgically. We believe ELIOS bends the needle even further by offering surgeons effective therapy for their patients in a treatment that is highly adoptable, minimizes trauma and requires no implant.

Cameron Hudson: Most of the Elios Vision team have worked in the Glaucoma therapy area for many years, and in some cases, decades. I think all of us at Elios Vision would agree that this chapter with ELIOS is the most exciting time for them in their careers and are excited by what ELIOS can ‘enable’ for patients and physicians. For ELIOS to be independently recognized through these Medical Device Network awards is worthy testament to all the team’s hard work and vision over the years. We are incredibly proud to be winners and we’ll use these awards as motivation to fuel our future endeavours.