Summary
The newest silicone hydrogel contact lenses introduced to the market use a siloxane-based material, and include the Ciba O2 Optix Custom, the Coopervision Biofinity, and now the Menicon PremiO. I have yet to get my hands on and prescribe any of these lenses so I don't have any first accounts of their performance. But I hope to try at least the Biofinity very soon.
Analysis
I still have yet to try any of these next generation silicone hydrogel lenses (O2 Optix Custom, Biofinity, PremiO) on my patients. My only experience is with the Biofinity, and that has been word of mouth accounts through colleagues. The overall sentiment is positive, but I want to try these for myself.
As far as I know, this is Menicon's first production of a soft contact lens. I believe they are known more for their rigid gas permeable lenses. It was smart of them to break into the soft contact lens market with a silicone hydrogel so that they could hit the ground running with the newest and best lens material. If they really want to be successful, their next step should be to get some reps out there to knock on the doors of every eye doctor they can find, and give these doctors trial sets. Then we'll see how it performs. I hope to hear from a Menicon rep in the near future so that I can try out these new lenses, but I won't hold my breath.
I've been trying to contact CooperVision for a while now to obtain a trial set of Biofinity lenses. The last time I talked to my rep, he said he'd send one as soon as it was available. I found out recently that I have a new rep, who I haven't heard from, and I still have no trial set. I recently went to a conference, at which CooperVision was a sponsor, and they indicated that trial sets were being shipped out. Again, I'm a little skeptical, as I've heard this from CooperVision for the past 2 years.
I used to prescribe the original Ciba O2 Optix (first generation silicone hydrogel) at a former office where I worked, and had some success with it. In my current office, we've never had very attentive representation from Ciba, so I don't expect to be trying the O2 Optix Custom any time soon.
It seems only Vistakon has figured out that when you give an eye doctor a trial set (or sets) for them to try on their patients in-office, that this eye doctor will fit and prescribe more of their lenses. For this reason, 90% of the spherical soft lenses I prescribe are Vistakon (AV Oasys) lenses. This seems like common sense to me, but apparently, it's not. I'm sure this is why Vistakon has been the leader in the contact lens industry for so many years.
