Sight Sciences Announces 1,000th TearCare Customer Installation
Sight Sciences announced the 1,000th installation of its TearCare System. TearCare is FDA cleared and indicated for the application of localized heat therapy in adult patients with evaporative dry eye disease due to meibomian gland dysfunction, when used in conjunction with manual expression of the meibomian glands.
In 2019 Sight Sciences commercialized the TearCare System with the goal of providing doctors and patients improvements over the current over the counter, prescription pharmaceutical, or in-office treatments for dry eye. Desired improvements included faster action, enduring results and, in the case of in-office treatment, a price point allowing more practices to equip their offices, according to Sight Sciences. Immediately following launch, Sight Sciences took the first step required to obtain access to coverage and payment for dry eye sufferers when the American Medical Association (AMA) granted a temporary procedural code specifically describing the open eye TearCare procedure.
In 2021, on the heels of publishing compelling signs and symptoms clinical results from its first large randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT), OLYMPIA, in the journal Cornea, the company announced the initiation of its second pivotal RCT, the SAHARA study, intended to assist payors in providing fair patient access to the interventional TearCare dry eye procedure. Sahara is a large randomized controlled clinical trial designed to provide a robust body of evidence comparing the long-term efficacy of the TearCare System to a traditional, daily, prescription pharmaceutical treatment regimen for dry eye. The company expects to begin readout and publishing of the data from SAHARA later this year and continuing into 2024. The company intends to use the data to support the case for appropriate coverage and payment by third party payers to help drive patient access to care for dry eye disease due to MGD.
Total Eye Care of Long Island, N.Y., was the 1000th practice to install the TearCare System. Stephanie K. Becker, MD, CEO and dry eye specialist, said that “impressive clinical study results, device footprint with a reasonable capital investment, along with Sight Sciences' commitment to pursue appropriate insurance coverage and fair payment all combined in the decision to add the TearCare System to our dry eye treatment armamentarium. We are pleased to offer TearCare to indicated dry eye patients.”
“We are thrilled that over 1,000 eye care practices have chosen the TearCare System to treat dry eye caused by MGD,” Paul Badawi, co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer of Sight Sciences, said in a company news release. “We designed TearCare to treat the underlying cause of MGD and restore production of healthy tears. The over 1,000 votes of confidence that we have received from eye doctors across the United States along with our outstanding clinical and real-world outcomes, demonstrate the increasing importance and acceptance of effective interventional dry eye treatment. We are particularly proud to have an ophthalmologist of Dr. Becker’s clinical reputation and expertise represent this milestone occasion.”