German optical giant sets sights on tackling myopia

China remains the most attractive and fastest-growing market for Zeiss Vision, a manufacturer of eyeglass lenses and ophthalmic instruments under the German optics giant Zeiss, insiders said last week at the company's biannual global conference.

More than 2,500 eye-care professionals from 70 countries and regions attended the Zeiss Vision Convention 2023, in Berlin, Germany on Oct 18 and 19 and shared innovations in lenses and optical technologies.

Around 200 business partners, optometrists, and ophthalmologists from China attended the event.

"Zeiss's business is very much related to China's development. The country's recent upgrade in industry and consumption is what drives the company's growth," said Wilson Peng, head of Zeiss Vision China, who added that China is the region where sales are growing fastest for Zeiss.

One of the main topics during this year's convention was the management of myopia, or short-sightedness, which is affecting an increasing number of people worldwide.

In a keynote speech, Padmaja Sankaridurg, head of the myopia management team at Zeiss, said a study showed one person in 20 was highly myopic in 2020 and estimated one in 10 would be by 2050.

"In many countries in Asia, the prevalence of high myopia is already greater than 10 percent among teenagers," said Sankaridurg, adding that uncorrected myopia will increase the possibility of people getting other eyeillness complications.

Since 2021, Zeiss Vision has been working with the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University in China, to develop its new myopia management lenses, which could slow down the progression of myopia.

Christina Boeck-Maier, head of scientific affairs at Zeiss Vision, said: "The collaboration is really the key to the whole product. We had several prototypes and we were testing together, where our lens designers, with their optical expertise, also improved on the ideas of the professors from China."

Launched first in China last year, nearly 1 million pairs of the new lenses, Zeiss MyoCare, have been sold so far. The product became available in Europe in April. Several clinical trials are currently taking place in China and Europe, and the latest results are expected to be published during this year's China International Import Expo in Shanghai in November.

Laura Rocha, the senior product manager at Zeiss Vision responsible for MyoCare lenses, said, because of the prevalence of myopia in China, the demand for the product is huge.

According to China's National Health Commission, 52.7 percent of children and young adults in China had short-sightedness in 2020.

"The urgency is in Asia, but the rate of myopia in Europe is rising," said Rocha. "That's why we look and invest in Asia first, and then it's time to turn for Europe and also the rest of the world."

According to iResearch, a market intelligence company, China's eyeglass lenses market size amounts to 34 billion yuan ($4.65 billion). Zeiss accounts for 24.6 percent of sales in China, ranking it first in the market.