Abbott Medical Optics

Abbott Medical Optics Inc. (Johnson & Johnson Vision)
subsidiary
Industry Ophthalmology
Founded Santa Ana, California 1976 (1976)
Headquarters Santa Ana, California
Key people
 Tom Frinzi, President
Products Ophthalmic pharmaceuticals
Surgical equipment
Contact care products
Number of employees
 4,500
Parent Johnson & Johnson
Website http://www.amo-inc.com/

Abbott Medical Optics Inc. earlier known as Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. (also known as AMO) is a global medical supply company. Products in the ophthalmic surgical line include intraocular lenses, laser vision correction systems, phacoemulsification systems, viscoelastics, microkeratomes and related products used in cataract and refractive surgery. AMO is based in Santa Ana, California, and employs approximately 4,200 worldwide. The company has operations in 24 countries and markets products in approximately 60 countries. In February 27, 2017, Abbott Medical Optics has changed its name to Johnson & Johnson Vision following its $4.3 billion acquisition by Johnson & Johnson.

History

AMO, (originally Heyer-Schulte Medical Optics, renamed American Medical Optics after purchase by American Hospital Supply Corporation - AHSC) started business in 1976 in the early development of intraocular lenses for cataract patients.

In 1983 American Medical Optics, the Santa Ana eye product division of American Hospital Supply Corp., began to manufacture the tissue lens.

In 1986, Allergan acquired American Medical Optics, and as Allergan Medical Optics, continued to manufacture the lenticules.

AMO was spun off from Allergan in 2002.

AMO acquired VisX Inc. in a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately $1.27 billion, in November 2004. The combined company retained the Advanced Medical Optics name and AMO’s Santa Ana, Calif., headquarters. The laser franchise retained the VisX brand name, and VisX continued manufacturing and research and development activities at its Santa Clara, Calif., site. The AMO portfolio already included the Amadeus II microkeratome, the Verisyse phakic IOL, and the ReZoom, Array and Tecnis IOLs in that time.

In Jan. 16, 2007 AMO announced the acquisition of privately held WaveFront Sciences Inc., a provider of wavefront diagnostic systems for refractive surgery and medical research, for $20 million in cash.[1]

AMO acquired Irvine-based IntraLase Corp. for $808 million in January 2007.[2] This allowed AMO to combine IntraLase technology for cutting a flap in the cornea with AMO technology for reshaping the cornea. The combination of these complementary technologies has made "all-laser LASIK" possible.[3] NASA later approved this all-laser LASIK for use on astronauts.[4]

In August 2007 the company donated $2.5 million to UC-Irvine's Department of Ophthalmology to boost the university's planned Eye Institute.[4]

On February 26, 2009 Abbott Laboratories announced that it had completed its acquisition of Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) in a $2.8 billion deal. AMO had become a wholly owned subsidiary of Abbott and was renamed Abbott Medical Optics Inc.

In September 2016, pharmaceutical and medical device company Johnson & Johnson announced they were buying Abbott Medical Optics for $4.3 billion.[5]

In February 27, 2017, Abbott Medical Optics has changed its name to Johnson & Johnson Vision following its $4.3 billion acquisition by Johnson & Johnson. The company will have headquarters in Santa Ana and Jacksonville, Fla. Its surgical business will be based in Santa Ana and will continue to be led by president Tom Frinzi.

Products

Voluntary recalls

AMO voluntarily recalled some of their products in 2006 due to a bacterial contamination in the factory process which would have compromised sterility. Non-sterility of a contact lens solution may have serious health consequences, including eye infection and microbial keratitis. The voluntary and limited recall was caused by an isolated production line problem that affected two of the four production lines in the AMO facility, not because of a formulation issue.[6]

In May 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked AMO MoisturePlus eye solution to Acanthamoeba keratitis infections.[7] AMO announced a recall on Complete MoisturePlus contact lens solution on May 28, 2007.[8] The solution has been linked to cases of an eye infection (keratitis) caused by an organism of the genus Acanthamoeba.[9] The Company was sued in June 2007 by Michael Connolly, who claimed to have developed a keratitis infection after using AMO's MoisturePlus solution.[10][11]

On June 20, 2009 The Associated Press published an article titled, "Contact Solution Maker Failed to Report Problems". The article states, Complaints about a contact lens solution linked to a 2007 outbreak of eye infections that blinded several people went unreported by the manufacturer for more than a year, government documents show. The documents show Advanced Medical Optics received complaints about the solution more than a year before it was recalled, and failed to promptly report nine complaints as required by law.[12]

There are still many on-going class action lawsuits against AMO, claiming the non-sterile contact lens solution has caused injury and complete blindness in some cases.[13]

References

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