News | April 2, 2007

Advanced Medical Optics Completes Acquisition Of IntraLase

Santa Ana, CA — Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. (AMO), a global leader in ophthalmic surgical devices and eye care products, recently announced it has completed the acquisition of IntraLase Corp.

The acquisition was approved by IntraLase stockholders on March 30, 2007 and closed today consistent with the company's original timetable to complete the acquisition early in the second quarter. AMO announced on January 8, 2007, a definitive agreement for AMO to acquire IntraLase for approximately $808 million in cash. Under the terms of the agreement, AMO paid $25 in cash per share of IntraLase stock and the individually determined cash value per share of outstanding stock options.

"We have taken a major step toward defining a new standard of care in laser vision correction," said AMO Chairman, President and CEO Jim Mazzo. "Along with the recently announced acquisition of WaveFront Sciences, AMO now owns the most advanced corneal refractive technologies on the market with the ability to offer a full systems approach that is without peer in the industry. The addition of IntraLase's state-of-the-art femtosecond laser technology to AMO's unmatched portfolio of corneal and cataract products allows us to forge a new path for vision care with a full suite of technologies to address a lifetime of refractive needs."

AMO expects to leverage the large installed bases of AMO and IntraLase and combine their international expansion strategies to further establish its position as the industry leader in laser diagnostics, flap-creation and ablation technologies.

The acquisition also gives AMO entry into the corneal transplant market with the IntraLase® enabled keratoplasty (IEK) technology.

"The IntraLase® femtosecond laser is revolutionizing corneal transplantation because it allows us, for the first time, to precisely create complex, interlocking incision contours that can seal better and potentially heal faster," said Dr. Frank Price of the Price Vision Group in Indianapolis, Indiana. "The IntraLase laser also creates matching reference marks on the donor and recipient cornea to help the surgeon minimize post-operative astigmatism. In short, IntraLase enabled IEK combines the clarity of a full-thickness graft with the advantages of a stepped incision and the stronger healing effects that have long been noted with IntraLase-created side-cut incisions for LASIK."

About IntraLase Technology

More than 1,200 surgeons worldwide have incorporated the IntraLase Method™ into their LASIK practices. Many U.S. ophthalmic teaching institutes, including Duke University Medical School, the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins, the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at University of Miami, and Stanford University, use the IntraLase FS™ laser technology to train future generations of LASIK surgeons.

The 4th generation IntraLase FS laser uses an infrared light beam, generating 60,000 pulses per second, to prepare the intracorneal bed and create the corneal flap in the first step of LASIK.

  • Using an "inside-out" process, the laser beam is precisely focused to a point within the cornea.
    The laser pulses then creates thousands of microscopic bubbles which define the incision within the intracorneal surface.
  • Along the edge, bubbles are then stacked up at a beveled angle - a feature unique to the IntraLase Method™ - to the corneal surface to complete the flap.
  • From start to finish, the IntraLase Method™ typically takes 15-30 seconds.
  • The physician then exposes the prepared corneal bed for excimer laser treatment (the second step of LASIK) by lifting the flap.
  • The LASIK procedure is complete when the flap is securely repositioned on its beveled edge.

Key benefits of the IntraLase® technology include:

  • Enabling surgeons to more precisely control the first critical step of LASIK including flap diameter, depth, hinge location and width, and side cut architecture.
    Providing a thin and planar flap resulting in improved biomechanical stability.
  • Enabling for precise repositioning, alignment and seating after the LASIK procedure is completed, reducing the risk of flap displacement, a complication occasionally seen after microkeratome flaps.
  • Enhanced safety profile as evidenced in a presentation by Elizabeth A. Davis, M.D. and Richard L. Lindstrom, M.D.: "Early Experience with the 30 kHz IntraLase."
  • Clinically proven superior overall visual outcomes in both standard and custom LASIK procedures with more patients achieving visual acuity of 20/20, 20/15, and 20/12.5 as evidenced in a presentation by Daniel S. Durrie, M.D.: "Randomized, Prospective, Contralateral Study of LASIK: IntraLase laser Versus Mechanical Keratome."

SOURCE: Advanced Medical Optics (AMO)