Thomas Burns has an apt description for Glaukos Corp., the company he leads as chief executive and chairman.
“Most people would describe my company as a 23-year overnight success,” Burns quipped after winning a Business Journal Innovator of the Year Award earlier this month.
“It is a company that we started with four people. Today, we’re approaching 1,200 and we’re able to straddle that fine line between success and failure through a combination of good luck, good fortune, some hard work – and maybe some providential help from time to time.”
The remarks underplay just what Burns has accomplished. The Aliso Viejo company has built the world’s smallest medical device — smaller than the dot above this “j” that you are reading — that is implanted into the eye to treat glaucoma. It is now approaching almost $500 million in annual sales and has a $4.7 billion market cap (NYSE: GKOS).
It’s the second major award this year for Burns, who in January was named by the Business Journal as a Businessperson of the Year in the health sector. In May, the Business Journal awarded Glaukos Chief Financial Officer Alex Thurman with a CFO of the Year award for the public sector.
Archaic Eye Drops
In 2002, Burns wasn’t initially impressed when noted ophthalmology investor Bill Link asked him to examine the technology at a small startup. Then Burns looked at the prototype.
“I saw the size of the device and thought, ‘My gosh, this could change the whole paradigm of how glaucoma was treated,’” Burns previously told the Business Journal.
About 80 million patients worldwide suffer from glaucoma, with five million having lost their vision. However, it would take about a decade before the company’s product began generating revenue.
“The journey was hard,” Burns told the audience of more than 300 at the Sept. 10 event.
“It was a journey of unremitted periods of exaltation, subtle achievements, intense collaboration, near death experiences, anxiety, frustration and a number of setbacks.”
Glaukos pioneered a completely new treatment paradigm for glaucoma called Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS). The device, called iStent, has been implanted in more than 1.5 million eyes, helping relieve the pressure brought on by glaucoma.
A core thesis of the company is that drops are an archaic method to deliver medications inside the eye.
Hence, it has developed other methods to deliver the medication, such as the iDose TR, which is implanted into an eye and can deliver medication for three years.
Analysts expect Glaukos’ sales to boom an estimated 26% to $484 million this year and another 26% to $609 million in 2026.
$750M for R&D
The company, which has invested $750 million in research and development since 2018, has 14 disclosed pipeline programs.
“We took a bellyful of capital from our IPO and invested it in research,” Burns said.
Its next big product that may get FDA approval this year is Epioxa, which will treat keratoconus, a rarely diagnosed, sight-threatening disease that affects teenagers.
“It’s a huge opportunity to significantly help teenagers affected by this insidious disease. 20% of kids with this disease will need corneal transplants if not treated.”
Builders of the World’s Smallest Medical Device
Glaukos Corp. had trouble finding a contract manufacturer to build what would become the world’s smallest medical device.
“They all told us to go jump in the lake – there was no interest in this nanotechnology,” Glaukos CEO and Chairman Thomas Burns recalled.
“Most people thought that this was far-fetched and a crazy idea. Yet, we had the courage of our conviction that this was going to work. We believed in it from the very beginning, and it’s paid off.”
Hence, Glaukos’ own employees developed and built the machinery needed to make the device.
Burns brought six of these employees — who all joined Glaukos from 2001-08 — to the Business Journal’s 11th annual Innovator of the Year Awards at the Irvine Marriott on Sept. 10.
The six who are now retired from Glaukos are: David Haffner, EVP, New Technologies, Steve Henderson, VP, sales, Hal Heitzmann, SVP, Applied Research, Chris Calcaterra, chief operating officer, Rich Harrison, chief financial officer, and Jeff Wells, VP, Regulatory & Clinical Affairs.
“They’re the ones that deserve this award,” Burns told the audience. “They’re the ones that built this company. They are pioneers and innovators. I wouldn’t be up here without them.”
