Glaucoma Devices’ Expanding Role to Drive Double-Digit Market Growth

Glaucoma surgical devices will see increased use in all stages of disease and in stand-alone glaucoma procedures over the next 5 years, as companies commercialize more devices designed to meet these needs, according to a Market Scope report. 

Market Scope expects the glaucoma surgical device market to grow from nearly $800 million in 2021 to $1.7 billion in 2026, at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 17 percent.

The number of US-approved minimally invasive glaucoma surgical (MIGS) devices should grow to five in 2021. At the same time, the market will continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as glaucoma specialists work through a backlog of patients.

Market Scope’s “2021 Glaucoma Surgical Device Market Report,” published in July, analyzes how all these trends will affect this quickly changing segment. It examines the pandemic’s impact on glaucoma surgery by major country or market and projects the recovery in 2021, 2022, and future years.

Glaucoma is the world’s second leading cause of blindness, and the disease affects nearly 103 million people around the globe, according to our estimates. Another 43 million have ocular hypertension, a condition that often precedes glaucoma.

Once the disease is diagnosed, medication, rather than surgery, is by far the most frequently chosen treatment option for patients with all stages of glaucoma. Only 2.2 percent of diagnosed glaucoma patients globally are expected to be treated surgically in 2021.

Surgical approaches traditionally were used as a last resort in glaucoma, once the disease had progressed to an end stage, due to high complication rates. However, safer and more effective devices, including MIGS stents and canal surgery devices, now account for more than half of glaucoma surgeries globally. Still, their role has been limited mainly to treating patients with mild to moderate glaucoma and combined cataract/glaucoma patients.

The Allergan XEN is one of the four approved MIGS stents in the US, along with the Glaukos iStent and iStent Inject and the Ivantis Hydrus. The Santen PreserFlo MicroShunt is under review by the FDA and is expected to gain approval as the fifth MIGS device in the US by the end of 2021.

Market Scope projects robust growth in MIGS devices in Western Europe, Japan, and other wealthy nations once companies are able to establish adequate reimbursement, which requires demonstrating the effectiveness of their devices clinically.

Canal surgery device makers are touting an advantage over MIGS stents because no hardware is left behind in the eye that potentially could cause complications. These devices are often combined with MIGS to achieve a lower IOP, though the trend has been declining recently, according to Market Scope quarterly survey data.

Canal surgery devices are seeing renewed interest. Commercialized products include Nova Eye Medical’s iTrack for ABiC canaloplasty, Sight Sciences’ OMNI, MST/NeoMedix’ Trabectome, and New World Medical’s Kahook Dual Blade.

A large number of companies compete in the glaucoma surgical device market, but a few dominate. We expect Glaukos to lead the market in 2021, with more than 30 percent of global revenue, followed by New World Medical.

Ten companies will account for nearly 80 percent of revenue in 2021. In addition to Glaukos and New World Medical, they are Allergan, Ivantis, Lumibird, Alcon, J&J Vision, Sight Sciences, Iridex, and Nova Eye Medical.

A proposed significant reduction in the physician fee for MIGS surgery in 2022 may affect the market.

Market Scope’s “2021 Glaucoma Surgical Device Market Report” was published in July.