by Lori Donchak

Big things are happening in San Clemente on behalf of people around the world who struggle with chronic eye disease. Located in the Rancho San Clemente Business Park, Glaukos is hard at work transforming the future of eye care. Glaukos (a name derived from the Greek for “bright-eyed”) was founded in 1998 and is now a publicly-held company that has successfully invented life-changing devices that offer a new standard of treatment for glaucoma. With headquarters in Aliso Viejo, their manufacturing plant opened in San Clemente in 2016 and employs over 200 folks, all committed to the creation of microscopic devices designed to improve the health outcomes of people with glaucoma.

In the world of medicine, few breakthroughs are as crucial as those that enhance the ability to effectively treat chronic conditions such as glaucoma. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide and affects over three million Americans. It is characterized by damage to the optic nerve, often due to elevated eye pressure, which can lead to irreversible vision loss if left untreated. Glaucoma cannot be cured, but if treated, it can be halted. 

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 he big things that are happening at Glaukos? They are in fact microscopically tiny things that definitively lead to improved treatment of glaucoma. Senior Vice President of Operations, Matt Young oversees the San Clemente manufacturing center and points to two Glaukos devices in particular that have transformed how to manage and treat eye disease. The first device, iStent®, launched successfully in 2012, receiving FDA approval and eligibility for 100% coverage from Medicare. Imagine a device that is smaller than the width of two hairs. That is the size of iStent®, which is so tiny that it is believed to be the smallest medical device surgically implanted in the human body. Its benefits to a glaucoma patient are substantial. iStent® creates a path that allows fluid inside the eye to drain more easily, which in turn relieves the vision-damaging eye-pressure associated with glaucoma. Ten years ago, no one had heard of micro-invasive Glaucoma surgery (MIGS). Thanks to Glaukos, over 1 million iStents® have been implanted since the product’s introduction, all using MIGS.

February 2024 marked the official launch of iDose® TR, another transformative Glaukos innovation approved by the FDA in December 2023. Anyone who has experience with eye drops as a therapy knows how tedious they can be to apply. Drops are messy. Blinking is inevitable, making drop dosage imprecise. Sometimes it’s easy to forget. All of this is a problem because the precise use of eye drops traditionally has been an essential part of glaucoma treatment. Matt explains that Glaukos created iDose® TR to address the problem caused by uneven patient compliance.  iDose® TR is an innovative solution that completely replaces eye drop therapy. It is a microscopic canister that is implanted behind the eye and slowly dispenses medication necessary to decrease eye pressure. The tiny canister is designed to provide treatment for up to three years making eye drops unnecessary. If it sounds intriguing, you can learn more about both devices from your ophthalmologist or glaucoma specialist. Matt also points out that early diagnosis gives a patient a significant advantage when it comes to treating glaucoma. For that reason, glaucoma testing is recommended every two years as part of a complete eye examination.

 

San Clemente is truly lucky to be home to the Glaukos manufacturing campus. Glaukos is known as an amazing place to work. Matt describes the culture as “a family kind of environment with a small company feel.” Employees are encouraged to always put patients first and to act with integrity, humility and compassion. Employees at the San Clemente facility have responsibility for engineering, device fabrication, quality control, as well as pilot-testing new products. Matt says with pride that his team is known to be nimble, courageous and resilient. Employees enthusiastically volunteer in the wider Orange County community at places such as Serra’s Pantry and Beyond Blindness. Recognizing that eye disease afflicts people world-wide, the Glaukos Charitable Foundation contributes to over 40 countries where eye care treatment is especially needed.  It is no surprise that Glaukos has accumulated awards for being a Top Workplace, a Great Place to Work, and a Company that Cares.  June 25th is Glaukos Day, officially an employee holiday chosen because it was the date of the iStent® FDA approval in 2012 and the company’s successful IPO in 2015. 

Glaukos is passionate about continuing to advance the standard of care for sight-threatening chronic eye disease. More than 30% of all Glaukos sales have been reinvested back into research and development efforts over the past several years, which has in turn resulted in over 300 issued, licensed or pending patents in support of transformative therapy for people who struggle with eye disease. The company mantra, We’ll Go First, speaks to the special culture and the many innovative milestones met. And if you ask an employee, with a smile they will tell you that what really matters are the successes that are yet to come.