Ocular Science Launches Two Affiliates to Focus on Compounding and Biologic Sectors
Ocular Science launches two affiliates to focus on compounding and biologic sectors of ophthalmic market.
Ocular Science has divided its Southern California-based operation into two standalone C corporations: OSRX, Inc., the company’s 503A compounding pharmacy (formerly Pinnacle Compounding); and Regenerative Science, which commercializes biologics for the management of dry eye disease. According to Founder and CEO Anthony Sampietro, the bifurcation is based on developing a clear corporate path to assure quality, safety and regulatory compliance while streamlining patient and physician access to the medications and reducing expenses.
“As a young company, we are nimble, can listen to the marketplace and quickly pivot to fuel our success,” said Mr. Sampietro, who in 2015 co-founded Ocular Science, which experienced more than 400 percent growth in the past year. “To succeed in an industry where compliance and efficacy are imperative, dividing our operations and commercial efforts to focus on unique sub-segments of the ophthalmology market allows us to produce the foremost compounded products at a reasonable price. Simultaneously, it enhances our ability to expand our paradigm-shifting lineup of biologics for the management of dry eye disease.”
OSRX, a Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board certified 503A facility based in Missoula, Montana., currently offers nine customized eye drops and one intracameral injection in three areas of care within ophthalmology – surgical vision correction, myopia treatment and the management of glaucoma. These patient-specific formulations, marketed as “OMNI,” combine multiple medications into a single dose. This approach simplifies treatment, promotes greater adherence and can reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients, according to Ocular Science Chief Medical Officer Damien Goldberg, MD.
“OSRX’s OMNI medications continue to gain momentum among prescribers due to the substantial cost benefits and increased level of convenience they afford patients,” Dr. Goldberg, a board-certified eye physician and surgeon at Torrance Memorial Hospital in Torrance, California, said in a company news release. “More importantly, a prospective study showed OMNI products to be safe and therapeutically equivalent to the conventional use of multiple medications for controlling inflammation after surgery – presenting physicians and patients with a true win-win treatment option.”
Regenerative Science, based in Manhattan Beach, California, develops biologics for the management of dry eye disease. Mr. Sampietro noted that the company has plans to introduce a trio of amnion-derived biologic dry eye drops in the coming weeks.