Photo: Dr John Phillips, joint recipient of the BCLA Industry Award 2019
Dr John Phillips has been awarded the prestigious British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) Industry Award 2019 along with industry co-developers Stuart Cockerill and Paul Chamberlain from CooperVision. The award was presented for their work in developing and commercializing the CooperVision MiSight® daily disposable contact lens.
It all started in SOVS with John’s clinical research into childhood myopia (short-sightedness). John’s early experiments while Principal Investigator of the Auckland Myopia Laboratory led to the creation of a dual-focus contact lens which simultaneously provided normal visual acuity and also myopic defocus to the retina in order to slow down the progression of myopia. The initial efficacy of the lens design was demonstrated in a clinical trial in children conducted in Auckland by John’s then-PhD student Nicola Anstice.
Given the steady increase in the occurrence of myopia world-wide, a multicentre clinical trial was initiated at centres in Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Portugal, using John’s dual-focus technology. Supported by CooperVision, a world leader in the manufacture of soft contact lenses, the study is now in its fifth year and has confirmed the effectiveness of the lens design in slowing myopia progression in children. This has resulted in John’s pioneering technology being recognised at an international level within the ophthalmic profession and in its adoption for commercial use, resulting in MiSight® lenses currently being worn by over 10,000 children world-wide.
The daily disposable format of the MiSight® lens is particularly appropriate for children in terms of hygiene, as there is no cleaning or disinfection required and also no worrying about lost lenses.
See the full press release here.