VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies Inc, which develops visual prosthetic devices, today announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company's Implantable Miniature Telescope, which is designed to improve vision in patients with end-stage age-related macular degeneration.

VisionCare's telescope implant is part of a new patient care program, CentraSight, for treating patients with end-stage macular degeneration (AMD) - the most advanced form of AMD in the US and the leading cause of blindness in older Americans.

The company, which has its R&D center in Petah Tikva, had originally applied for FDA approval in 2006.

VisionCare has raised $46 million to date including $20 million in the last round led by Boston Scientific Inc. (NYSE: BSX). Other investors in the company include Israel Infinity Venture Capital, Pitango Venture Capital, JP Morgan, Onset Ventures, Three Arch Partners and Canada-Israel Opportunity Fund.

VisionCare CEO Allen Hill said, “The telescope implant represents a new category of treatment for this severely visually impaired population. This approval is the culmination of years of scientific and clinical development."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 6, 2010

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