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VISTAKON® PRESIDENT NAOMI KELMAN ADDRESSES THE OPTOMETRIC TRADE PRESS AT SECO 2005
Underscores the Company’s Long-Standing
Commitment to Eye Care Professionals and to Growing the Contact
Lens Category
VISTAKON® Announces Expanded Parameters of ACUVUE ADVANCE®
with HYDRACLEAR® and New Marketing Initiatives
ATLANTA, GA, February 25, 2005 – Naomi Kelman,
President of VISTAKON® Americas, a division of Johnson &
Johnson Vision Care, Inc., today addressed a crowd of journalists
attending SECO 2005. Ms. Kelman spoke about the company’s
long-standing commitment to Eye Care Professionals (ECPs), highlighting
its aggressive product pipeline that will go far in meeting previously
unmet patients’ needs, and will positively affect patient
and practitioner satisfaction as well as drive practice and category
growth.
Ms. Kelman also explained that VISTAKON®’s commitment
goes well beyond its investment in new product development. It extends
to funding support for the programs of many optometric organizations,
including SECO, providing scholarships and grants to optometry schools
and colleges, and sponsoring the American Optometric Association’s
InfantSEE™ program. It includes educational in-office materials
that promote the importance of eye care to patients, and helpful
staff training modules for ECPs. Perhaps the most ambitious initiative
that demonstrates the company’s unrelenting commitment to
the optometry profession is the creation of The Vision Care Institute™
of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., which opened its doors
just one year ago.
Product News
VISTAKON® Senior Product Director Glenn Travers also spoke to
attendees about new product availability, expanded parameters and
marketing initiatives, including:
ACUVUE ADVANCE® Brand Contact Lenses for ASTIGMATISM
will be available in March, from plano to -6.00D in 0.50D steps
(Cylinders: -0.75 & -1.25, Axis: 90° & 180° ±20,
no obliques; and Cylinder: -1.75, Axis: 90° & 180° only).
All feature a base curve of 8.6 and diameter of 14.5mm. VISTAKON®
will continue to expand these parameters over the next few months,
reaching its full range by Summer 2005.
Unlike other toric lens designs that compete with the eyelids'
movements, the new Accelerated Stabilization Design of the ACUVUE®
ADVANCE® for ASTIGMATISM lens harnesses the power
of the blink to quickly orient and stabilize the lens in approximately
60 seconds. The four active zones and accelerated slope of thickness
work with the eyelids to balance the lens in place when the eye
is open and quickly re-align the lens if it rotates out of position.
This proprietary Accelerated Stabilization Design provides patients
with crisp, stable vision throughout the day and provides doctors
with a fast, stable fit.
ACUVUE ADVANCE® Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR®,
the first lens in THE ULTRA COMFORT SERIES™ that has set the
new industry standard for comfort and care, has expanded its parameters.
On April 1, ACUVUE ADVANCE® with HYDRACLEAR® will
be available in powers of +8.00D to –12.00D. Plus powers,
previously available to +4.00D, will increase in 0.25D steps to
+6.00 and then in 0.50D steps to +8.00. Minus powers, previously
available to –6.00D, will increase in 0.50D steps to –12.00D.
All powers come in base curves of 8.3 mm and 8.7 mm, and in 14.0
diameter. The expanded parameters will allow more patients to experience
the exceptional end-of-day comfort, outstanding vision and healthy
wear of ACUVUE ADVANCE® with HYDRACLEAR®.
ACUVUE ADVANCE® with HYDRACLEAR® “Worry-Free
Trial” Offer was launched earlier this year to encourage patient
trial and increase patient satisfaction. The offer guarantees patients
100% product satisfaction or VISTAKON® will refund the product
purchase price and the fitting fee – up to a $90 value . Television
ads direct new and existing contact lens wearers to the Acuvue.com
web site for a Free Trial Pair Certificate and then into eye care
professionals’ offices for a “worry-free” trial
and purchase opportunity with ACUVUE ADVANCE® with HYDRACLEAR®.
Through March 31, when patients purchase two or more boxes of
ACUVUE ADVANCE® with HYDRACLEAR®, they will receive
a $10 rebate. Patients can get a $30 rebate when purchasing an annual
supply of eight boxes. When combined with a free trial pair at fitting,
the program not only makes it easy for patients to try ACUVUE®
ADVANCE®, but also promotes multi-pack, in-office purchases.
§ Hip Hop, a new television commercial that began airing in
January, features a young woman who tries contact lenses and ACUVUE®
ADVANCE® with HYDRACLEAR® for the first time to enhance
her dance performance, appearance and self-confidence, while having
the most comfortable contact lens experience possible. The 30-second
spot targets teens and young women, ages 13 to 24, who are contact
lens considerers. The commercial has aired during 7th Heaven, One
Tree Hill, Lost, Johnny Zero, Road to Stardom with Missy Elliot,
and Desperate Housewives, among others, and will continue to run
through 2005.
Thank you for attending our media event. For more
information or for images of the event, please contact Michele Gray
at 732.291.3904 or michele_gray@mac.com.
1 Reimbursement is composed of two parts –
up to $60 to refund the cost of two multi-packs of ACUVUE ADVANCE®
with HYDRACLEAR® and up to $30 towards the contact lens fitting
fees.
About Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
VISTAKON®, Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.,
pioneered the concept of disposable contact lens wear in 1987 with
the introduction of ACUVUE® Brand Contact Lenses. The ACUVUE®
Brand family of lenses is the most prescribed by Eye Care Professionals
worldwide today. VISTAKON®, headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla.,
manufactures and markets the first, second, and third best-selling
contact lenses in the world: ACUVUE® 2 Brand Contact
Lenses, 1·DAY ACUVUE® Brand Daily Disposable
Contact Lenses and ACUVUE® Brand Contact Lenses.
The ACUVUE® Brand BIFOCAL Contact Lenses is the number
one prescribed bifocal contact lens in the United States. VISTAKON®
also manufactures ACUVUE® Brand TORIC Contact Lenses
for people with astigmatism. ACUVUE® 2 COLOURS™
Brand Contact Lenses allows people to change their eye color every
day or for a special occasion. With the recent introduction of ACUVUE®
ADVANCE® Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR®, VISTAKON®
provides a family of products to meet the majority of vision care
needs.
The Vision Care Institute™, ACUVUE®, ACUVUE ADVANCE®
with HYDRACLEAR®, ACUVUE® 2, ACUVUE® 2 COLOURS,
1·DAY ACUVUE®, ACUVUE® TORIC, ACUVUE®
BIFOCAL and VISTAKON® are trademarks of Johnson &
Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
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