New Technology, Greater Patient Awareness Will Help Drive Gains in Premium Cataract Surgery

Gains in the premium cataract surgery market over the next 5 years will be driven by technological improvements, growing value awareness among patients, declining reimbursement in the public health care sector, and increases in the size and wealth of world’s aging populations, according to a new Market Scope report. 

Market Scope expects manufacturer revenue for PCS products to grow from $1.9 billion in 2021 to $3.3 billion by 2026, for a CAGR of nearly 12 percent. Over the same period, PCS provider revenue in 2021 is forecast to total $10.6 billion—over 5.6 times the revenue of manufacturers—and to increase to nearly $20.0 billion by 2026, for a CAGR of 13.4 percent.

Market Scope covers the latest developments in the segment in its “2021 Premium Cataract Surgery Market Report,” published in October. The report examines seven PCS procedure categories: toric, presbyopia-correcting, and post-op adjustable IOLs; femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS); corneal incisions with FLACS; corneal incisions with manual knives; and LASIK IOL enhancements.

Globally, of the nearly 30 million projected cataract surgeries in 2021, an estimated 12.5 percent will include at least one PCS procedure, and many will include multiple procedures, such as FLACS combined with a PC-IOL. Altogether, surgeons will perform a projected 6.6 million PCS procedures in 2021, growing to 9.3 million by 2026, for a CAGR of over 7 percent.

Of the $1.9 billion in manufacturer product revenue in 2021, nearly 83 percent will come from just 13 countries: the US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Canada, Australia, South Korea, China, India, and Brazil. Each of these countries presents unique challenges and opportunities. 

The four biggest country markets in manufacturer revenue are the US, China, Japan, and South Korea. The US is by far the largest, with 41 percent of the world’s PCS revenue. The country has all the conditions that create a thriving PCS market: a large wealthy elderly population, high PCS public awareness, a favorable reimbursement option, a large percentage of surgeon practices and surgery centers focused on PCS, and the world’s largest ophthalmic surgery product manufacturers based in the country, according to Market Scope. 

In 2020, US surgeons gained access to their first trifocal IOL, the Alcon PanOptix, and the first non-diffractive EDOF IOL, the Vivity. European surgeons have had access to trifocal lenses since 2015, and they are now the most frequently used presbyopia-correcting IOLs in Europe.

The number of PCS-focused eye hospital and clinic chains is growing, and some are expanding to multiple countries. Clinica Baviera, now owned by the Aier Eye Hospital chain, now has 80 eye surgery centers in Spain, Italy, and China. Other chains such as Optical Express in Germany and the UK, TLC Vision Centers in Canada, Optegra in the UK, and ClinicPoint in Spain are profiled.

The availability of better technologies is seen as a critical growth driver of PCS. Technology that will drive future PCS growth includes next-generation accommodating lenses, post-op adjustable lenses, and FLACS lasers.

Market Scope’s “2021 Premium Cataract Surgery Market Report” was published in October.