Second Sight to Convene First Ever Retinal Prosthesis Users Summit at Retina International World Congress

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, July 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --



12 Argus^® II Users to Meet and Attend the Congress in Hamburg

Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., the world's only developer and manufacturer of an approved retinal prosthesis for the blind, is hosting a summit for users of the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System to be held in conjunction with the Retina International World Congress this weekend (July 13 - 15) in Hamburg, Germany. Twelve (12) users will come together to see each other for the first time, share their experiences, and provide feedback on future product development for Second Sight. Users from the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy are expected to attend.

Additionally, the company is co-sponsoring a lunchtime symposium on electronic retinal implants on Saturday, July 14. In this session, Prof. Dr. med. Peter Walter (Universitäts-Augenklinik, RWTH Aachen, Germany), one of three surgeons in Germany to have implanted Argus II in patients to date, and Fatima Anaflous (Second Sight, Lausanne, Switzerland) will present the latest information on Argus II, Europe's only approved and commercially available retinal prosthesis. Walter is excited about presenting long-term data from participants in the company's clinical trials, which began in 2002 and include patients that have used the implant for up to 8 years, and also the results from commercial patients. "I started to work on retinal implants more than fifteen years ago here in Germany because I knew we could and we should help blind patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Today with Argus II, we can finally offer a treatment to patients backed by many years of safety and performance data". Anaflous, a low vision therapist, will present three years of patient experience with integrating the Argus II in their daily lives and what it means for these individuals. Second Sight will also host a booth in the exhibit hall to field enquiries from doctors and prospective patients.

Argus II is Second Sight's less invasive second generation implantable device intended to treat blind people suffering from degenerative diseases of the outer retina such as RP. The system works by converting video images captured by a miniature camera, housed in the patient's glasses, into a series of small electrical pulses that are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on the surface of the retina (epi-retinal). These pulses are intended to stimulate the retina's remaining cells resulting in the corresponding perception of patterns of light in the brain. Patients then learn to interpret these visual patterns thereby gaining some functional vision. Argus II was tested in a single arm, controlled, prospective, multicenter international clinical trial, the results of which were published in the April edition of the prestigious journal, Ophthalmology, and showed that "The Argus ll prosthesis system is reliable over the long term and provided benefit to implanted subjects during this period … This demonstrates the ability of this retinal implant to provide meaningful visual perception and usefulness to subjects blind as a result of end-stage outer retinal degenerations."

Gregoire Cosendai, PhD, head of Second Sight's European subsidiary, added "We warmly welcome the Argus ll users from across Europe to Hamburg to share their experiences. We are looking forward to learning more about what is important to them now and in the future for retinal prosthetics".

Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., located in Los Angeles California, was founded in 1998 to create a retinal prosthesis to provide sight to patients blinded from outer retinal degenerations, such as Retinitis Pigmentosa. Through dedication and innovation, Second Sight's mission is to develop, manufacture and market implantable visual prosthetics to enable blind individuals to achieve greater independence. European Headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.Second Sight, Argus and the Second Sight logo are registered trademarks of Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. Argus II is not approved for commercial use in the United States; it is being used in clinical trials under an FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE).

For more information please contact
Maura Arsiero (+41-21-693-91-01)
patients@2-sight.com
publicrelations@2-sight.com