Will The Avaira Take Market Share From Oaysis?

Implications: Can Cooper take over the 2 week spherical contact lens market? Can it make a dent in the market share of the industry leader in the silicone hydrogel field? Initial results look good. A definite maybe!

Analysis: I have been fitting the Acuvue Oaysis from Vistakon a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson for a few years now. It has been a simple upgrade from the Acuvue, Acuvue 2 and Acuvue Advance spherical lenses. Just about anyone in the old Acuvue line tried the new Oaysis lens with success. It was easy, and usually worked!

Vistakon is doing so well with the Oaysis in New York City, that they recently expanded the already generous parameters by coming out with a new base curve in January 2008. I will supposedly be fitting a new Oaysis for Astigmatism in the next 45 days.

And then came the Avaira!

Sales material from CooperVision, a subsidiary of Cooper Cos., says that the Avaira has the same "modulus of elasticity" or "softness" as the Oaysis. Other sales material says the Avaira is as permeable (breathable) as the Oaysis. Is it the Oaysis?...No. It costs less, and fits differently.

I have put the Avaira lens on about 20 patients in the last 3 weeks. A good start. The Avaira can take a previous generation Acuvue wearer, and upgrade them to silicone hydrogel with comfort and clarity. The Avaira can take a Ciba Vision O2 Optix patient and make them happy also. I think the lens works!

Pricing can make or break a lens. Oaysis is the most expensive two week sphere on the market today. The largest online retailer of contact lenses, 1-800 Contacts sells Acuvue Oaysis for $35 a box before rebate. My large New York City practice sells a box for approximately $7.50 less a box.

The Avaira costs about the same as a box of O2 Optix sphere. 1-800 Contacts sells O2 Optix for about $25 per box before rebates. I expect the Avaira to sell for about the same. My New York City practice sells the O2 Optix and Avaira for $22.50 per box. That puts a $10 per box premium on the Oaysis from 1-800 Contacts, and a $5 premium from my practice.

Lets see what happens. I expect the Avaira to do well based on the first month or so of contact lens fittings. It took a few months for me to know that the Biofinity, also by CooperVision did not meet expectations. It will take at least that long to know how well the Avaira does against the Oaysis and the O2 Optix.