Staar Surgical Co. (Nasdaq: STAA), a Lake Forest-based maker of implantable eye lenses, announced that Chief Executive Caren Mason will retire on Dec. 31.
Current board Chairman Tom Frinzi will serve as CEO and president, effective Jan. 1. Mason has agreed to serve in an advisory role until the end of 2023.
“Under Caren’s leadership, Staar has achieved numerous significant milestones including accelerating average revenue growth above 25% over the past several years and gaining U.S. FDA approval of our EVO lenses earlier this year,” Aimee S. Weisner, chair of the board’s Nominating and Governance Committee, said in a statement.
“At the same time, Caren has overseen a dramatic increase in shareholder value with shares of Staar increasing in value by almost 10 times during her tenure. She leaves Staar in an incredibly strong financial and market position.”
Shares of Staar fell 9.6% to $49.01 and a $2.4 billion market cap.
