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Glaukos Sees Bright 2019 After Record ’18

San Clemente-based iStent maker Glaukos Corp. (NYSE: GKOS) was a breakout star in Orange County’s healthcare industry last year, thanks to sales growth, expansion plans for its local operations, and a more than billion-dollar boost to its market value after a competitor flameout.

More is in store for this year, the company—scheduled to relocate headquarters to Aliso Viejo later this year—told shareholders and analysts.

The company is looking for sales in the $225 million to $230 million range this year, up from $181 million in 2018 and $159 million in 2017, it said in a recent analyst presentation.

About 27% of its 2018 revenue was invested in research and development, and it has four new products being evaluated by the FDA.

Glaukos’ gross margin for the first quarter stood at 87%, it had $154 million in cash, and other short-term equivalents at the end of March, the company said.

Strong Study

One reason for the optimism: continued positive results from its line of products.

Glaukos said earlier this month that a recent independent study showed a “significant” reduction in patients with substantial glaucoma.

Forty-four cases were reviewed to evaluate the long-term outcomes of the two-stent iStent inject system by Glaukos, according to the study, conducted in Germany and published in Advances in Therapy.

Eighty-eight percent of eyes had a greater than 20% reduction in intraocular pressure with iStent inject compared to preoperative measurements. Sixty-one percent of eyes that previously required medication were either medication-free or had a pronounced decrease in the use of medication.

“The results of this study highlight the profound efficacy and safety profile of the iStent inject as a sole procedure in a glaucoma patient,” the company stated in a press release.

The company said “of particular note” was the very high portion of eyes—97%—that achieved a reduction in intraocular pressure.

“This finding is key to our fundamental clinical goal of preserving glaucoma patients’ vision,” the company said.

Glaukos’ biggest stock gain of 2018 came after a competitor pulled products off the market after reporting poor post-surgery results; the San Clemente firm has continued to reaffirm the safety and effectiveness of its own line of eye stents.

All Glaukos procedures in the study were performed by Fritz H. Hengerer, M.D., Ph.D., in Heidelberg, Germany at an academic ophthalmology center.

Stock Bump

Since the June 4 announcement detailing the latest study, shares of Glaukos have climbed 15% to about $73 and a $2.7 billion market cap.

Glaukos is a pioneer of micro-invasive glaucoma surgery, also known as MIGS, which involves insertion of a microscale device from within the eye’s anterior chamber through a small corneal incision.

Its first iStent product won FDA approval in 2012. Its second product, the iStent inject, got the agency’s consent last year.

Roughly the size of an eyelash, the company said it may be the smallest medical device ever approved by the FDA. The newest iStent design allows surgeons to inject stents into multiple locations through a single corneal incision.

“While iStent inject has been studied primarily in patients with mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma, Hengerer’s results [suggest] that our multiple-stent technology might be a viable option for patients with more advanced disease,” Chief Executive Thomas Burns said in a statement.

According to the company’s statistical analysis, it is estimated that 5.4 million people in the U.S. suffer from open-angle glaucoma.

The company thinks the market it serves could see about $5 billion in sales eventually.

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