AMO's Acquisition of Intralase: A clinician's perspective

Implications: AMO's acquisition of Intralase for $808 million has been seen by most financial industry analysts as positive.  Most financial analysts point to the improved diversification and strengthening of AMO's refractive portfolio which includes intraocular lenses, phacoemulsification equipment, VISX excimer lasers, and now Intralase femtosecond lasers.

Analysis: AMO's acquisition should be positive for clinicians for several reasons.  First, the acquisition should allow faster integration of excimer and femtosecond technology.  Currently, femtosecond lasers which perform the first step in LASIK and excimer lasers which perform the second step are housed in separate units.  Moreover, these units have to be housed in separate surgical rooms because of their size.  Because VISX and Intralase will be partnered under AMO, we should expect that these technologies will finally be housed in a single unit.  The improved efficiency of a single unit laser system should encourage the purchase of new Intralase lasers particularly by efficiency conscious corporate laser centers. 

Secondly, AMO's acquisition should further cement AMO's position as a one stop stop for refractive technology because their portfolio will include excimer lasers, femtosecond lasers, microkeratomes, as well as multifocal intraocular lenses.  This should allow AMO to bundle refractive technology packages together for surgeons. 

Third, AMO's acquisition will allow the company to entire the corneal surgery market.  Intralase has developed corneal transplant technology which has significant advantages over existing technology.