Contact Lenses Market

Contact Lenses Market Overview

The next generation contact lenses market is estimated to be worth $38 million in 2019 and is expected to grow at CAGR of 52% during the forecast period. For more than five decades, contact lenses have primarily been used to correct vision-related disorders. The existence of several unmet needs in the field of ophthalmology, recent technological advances and the availability of new biomaterials, have substantially expanded the range of potential application areas for contact lenses. It is estimated that close to 2.4 million eye injuries occur every year in the US. In order to cater to this demand, a myriad of therapeutic contact lenses have been developed specifically for treating / protecting the eye. The efficient delivery of drugs / other therapeutic substances to the eye is also deemed to be an area for improvement. It is presently characterized by low bioavailability and limited exposure time to pharmacological interventions; for instance, in the case of eye drops, 95% of the active therapeutic ingredient is assumed to be lost / wasted post dose administration. A variety of drug-eluting contact lenses have been / are being developed to address the aforementioned challenges. The potential of contact lenses is being explored for diagnosis and disease monitoring purposes as well. Diabetes and glaucoma are key clinical conditions for which contact lenses are being developed to assess and track various disease related parameters. In fact, 10 contact lenses have already been approved for purposes other than vision correction; recent examples include CUSTOMFLEX® ARTIFICIALIRIS (aniridia, 2018) and EYEMATE® (glaucoma, 2017).

On the other hand, according to the National Eye Institute, nearly 1.3 million people are blind, while 2.9 million individuals have poor vision, in the US. It is estimated that the number of cases for blindness and poor vision are likely to reach 2.2 million and 5 million, respectively, by 2030, in the same region. Visual prosthetics, such as bionic eyes, represent the next generation of solutions for vision restoration. Their unique mechanism of action leverages electrical pulses to stimulate optic nerves and bypass damaged segments of region in the eye. Pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions have already invested a significant amount of capital in the development and commercialization of the abovementioned products. The ongoing efforts to innovate in next generation contact lenses market are evident from the fact that more than 7,500 patents have been granted / filed since 2013. In the coming years, the market is anticipated to grow at a significant pace as more novel solutions clear clinical evaluation and get commercialized.

Key Technology for the Contact Lenses Market

Examples of key technologies that are being developed to expand the functionality of contact lenses (which have also been profiled in this market report; the complete list of contact lens companies and their respective technologies is available in the full report) include EyePrintPRO™, Interscatter Communication Technology, Leo Lens Technology, Nanowafer Technology and the Diamond Eye™ Technology. This market report includes an easily searchable excel database of all the contact lens companies providing next generation contact lenses / technologies, worldwide.

Recent Developments in Contact Lenses Market:

Several recent developments have taken place in next generation contact lenses market. We have outlined some of these recent initiatives below. These developments, even if they took place post the release of our market report, substantiate the overall market trends that have been outlined in our analysis.

• In January 2023, Boomerang Ventures Studio, Purdue Foundry and the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization collaborated with an aim to develop smart contact lenses for glaucoma diagnosis and management.

Scope of the Report

The “Next Generation Contact Lenses Market, 2019-2030” market report features an extensive study of the current market landscape, market size, market share, market growth, market trends, market value, market forecast, market outlook, statistics and future opportunities of the next generation contact lenses market. The market research report lays emphasis on the novel products and technologies that are being developed for the treatment of ocular disorders, which generally cause severe visual impairment or blindness.

Amongst other elements, the market research report includes:

• A detailed review of the landscape of novel ophthalmic products, highlighting the different categories of contact lenses and visual prostheses (bionic eye technologies) developed / being developed by various players across the world. It features information on the purpose of development (therapeutic, drug delivery, and diagnosis / monitoring), current development status, target indication(s), type of product, type of organization (industry or non-industry) and location of company headquarters.
• An analysis of the key promotional strategies that have been adopted by the developers of marketed products, namely ChromaGen™, CUSTOMFLEX® ARTIFICIALIRIS, EYEMATE®, Hyper-CL™, Implantable Miniature Telescope and SENSIMED Triggerfish®.
• Brief profiles of the novel technologies that are being developed to expand the functionality of contact lenses; each profile features an overview of the technology, along with details on its working mechanism, information on application areas, type of products, key benefits, technical specifications and important details related to the developer company.
• An in-depth analysis of the various patents granted / filed related to next generation contact lenses and visual prostheses since 2013, highlighting the prevalent and emerging related to the innovation in next generation contact lenses market. The analysis takes into consideration the type of patent, regional applicability, CPC classification, emerging focus areas, leading industry / non-industry players (in terms of the number of patents filed / granted), and patent valuation.
• An analysis of the partnerships that have been established in next generation contact lenses market, covering R&D agreements, product development agreements, product commercialization agreements, service alliance and acquisitions; the analysis is based on multiple parameters, such as the type of agreement, type of organization, and focus area in terms of product application and target indication.
• A study of prevalent and emerging trends, and the popularity of next generation contact lenses and visual prostheses, as observed on the social media platform, Twitter. The analysis takes into consideration the tweets posted on the platform, between 2013 and 2018 (till mid-October).
• A list of key opinion leaders (KOLs) in next generation contact lenses market, featuring a 2X2 analysis to assess the relative experience of certain individuals, who were shortlisted based on their contributions (in terms of involvement in various clinical studies) to next generation contact lenses market. It includes a schematic world map representation, highlighting the geographical locations of eminent scientists / researchers engaged in next generation contact lenses market. In addition, it presents an analysis assessing the credibility and (relative) level of expertise of different KOLs based on number of publications, number of citations, number of clinical trials, number of affiliations and extent of professional network.

The key objective of next generation contact lenses market report is to provide a detailed market analysis in order to estimate the existing market size, market share, market growth, market trends, market value, market forecast, market outlook, statistics and future opportunity for next generation contact lenses market during the forecast period. Based on parameters, such as the target patient population, price of the lenses and the likely adoption rates, we have provided an informed estimate on the likely evolution of the market over the forecast period 2019-2030. The market report also features a detailed segmentation of the present and anticipated future opportunity based on [A] type of product (contact lenses and visual prostheses) [B] purpose of development of contact lenses (therapeutic, drug delivery and diagnosis / monitoring) [C] key disease indications (glaucoma, diabetes, AMD, retinitis pigmentosa and others) and [D] geography (North America, EU5 and Asia-Pacific). In order to account for future uncertainties and to add robustness to our model, we have provided three market forecast scenarios, namely the conservative, base and optimistic scenarios, which represent different tracks of the industry’s evolution.

The opinions and insights presented in this market research report were also influenced by discussions conducted with several stakeholders in next generation contact lenses market. The market report features detailed transcripts of interviews held with Mark E Byrne (Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer, OcuMedic), Michal Shavit (Head of Sales and Marketing, EyeYon Medical and Praful Doshi (Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technical Officer, Leo Lens Technology).

All actual figures have been sourced and analyzed from publicly available information forums and primary research discussions. Financial figures mentioned in this market research report are in USD, unless otherwise specified.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: What are next generation contact lenses?

Answer: Next generation contact lenses incorporate therapeutic drugs to administer into the eye of the patients. Also, some of these novel lenses have been utilized for diagnosis and disease monitoring purposes as well.

Question 2: How big is the contact lenses market?

Answer: The contact lenses market size is estimated to be worth $38 million in 2019.

Question 3: What is the projected market growth of the contact lenses market?

Answer: The contact lenses market is expected to grow at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 52% during the forecast period 2019 - 2030.

Question 4: How many patents related to the next generation contact lenses have been filed / granted till date?

Answer: Till date, over 7,000 patents related to the next generation contact lenses have been filed / granted indicating the ongoing pace of innovation in the industry.

Question 5: How many novel ophthalmic products are being developed / marketed by players engaged in the contact lenses market?

Answer: Presently, over 55 novel ophthalmic products are being developed / marketed by players engaged in the contact lenses market for therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

Question 6: Which region emerged as the hub for players engaged in the contact lenses market?

Answer: North America emerged as the hub for players engaged in the contact lenses market, with close to 70% of companies established in the region.