Alcon to purchase laser vision correction rival WaveLight

Lasik University

Alcon, owner of the LADAR6000 laser platform for LASIK and other laser vision correction procedures, intends to acquire Germany-based rival WaveLight AG through a friendly takeover for about $90 million in cash, plus the assumption of about $30 million in WaveLight debt, according to Alcon.

The sale will enhance Alcon's position in the laser vision correction market and create the second-largest laser refractive surgery franchise in the world.

WaveLight's flagship product, the Allegretto Wave excimer laser operates at 400 Hz, or about four times faster than Alcon's competing LADAR6000 excimer laser platform. (Faster lasers make the LASIK experience shorter and thereby more comfortable for patients, and may improve outcomes.)

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At 400 Hz, WaveLight's Allegretto excimer laser offers the fastest ablation speed on the market today, according to a June 2007 report from Wachovia Capital Markets. Allegretto Wave has also been the fastest-growing excimer laser platform over the past two years, according to the report.

There are currently more than 800 Allegretto Wave lasers installed globally. The company also recently unveiled a new laser — not yet approved in the United States — that will operate 25% faster, at 500 Hz (500 laser pulses per second).

The acquisition of WaveLight may help Alcon recover LASIK and laser vision correction market share that it lost earlier this year when it was forced to recall a key feature of its LADAR6000 excimer laser platform. In May, Alcon deactivated two algorithms (computerized treatment programs) used on over 100 LADAR6000 excimer lasers because of errors in the ablation software that could produce corneal abnormalities known as central islands.

Alcon says it will continue to support its LADAR6000 excimer laser platform. Currently there are approximately 350 Alcon LADAR excimer lasers installed worldwide.

In 2006, Alcon reported total sales of $4.9 billion and net earnings of $1.3 billion.

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