Decipher how Haohai Biological Technology’s ophthalmic business has developed, from ophthalmic viscoelasticdevice to intraocular lens and then to refractive lens

China’s first eye health whitepaper published, many ophthalmic companies establishing their presence at a quickened pace…along with the high incidence of cataract and myopic eye diseases and the growing patient population, the ophthalmic market is drawing increasing attention of government, academia, the industry and capital markets.

 

As a domestically famous ophthalmic company, Haohai Biological Technology has now become China’s largest ophthalmic viscoelasticdevice（OVD） manufacturer, one of the world-famous manufacturers of intraocular lens and one of the world’s largest independent suppliers of intraocular lens and ophthalmic materials, with its current ophthalmic business covering intraocular lens and ophthalmic materials, OVD, refractive lens and eye drops, etc.

 

All these, however, “originated from a hazy idea”. When interviewed by the press last year, Wu Jianying, executive director and generalmanager of Haohai Biological Technology, said that the company’s founding team found at the very beginning that China’s cataract patient population had long been growing exponentially due to an aging society, and that implanting intraocular lens through surgeries is the only effective way to treat cataract at present. However, the domestic intraocular lens markets, especially the high-end ones, have long been monopolized by high-priced imported brands. To “defeat” such ophthalmic disease that has the highest blinding rate in the world and allow more old people to regain vision with the most affordable price, mastering the technological “life-gate” in-house is the only way out.

 

Haohai Biological Technology first chose OVD, one of the core consumables of cataract surgeries, as the point of breakthrough. In 2007, by integrating three medical hyaluronic acid series product manufacturers, Haohai Biological Technology entered the field of medical ophthalmic materials, thus completing the industry chain from raw materials to production technology for OVD manufactured from medical hyaluronic acid. Currently, Haohai Biological Technology has been China’s largest OVD manufacturer for 12 years in a row.
 

 
 

Since 2015, relying upon its experience with OVD used for cataract surgery, Haohai Biological Technology, encompassing the acquisition and integration of manufacturers and sellers of intraocular lens products as the core consumable of cataract surgery, acquired the hydrophilic and PMMA intraocular lens businesses of Henan Universe, Zhuhai Eyegood, Shenzhen New Industries and the US-based Aaren Inc., thus initially establishing intraocular lens industry chain.

 

Currently, many intraocular lens brands of Haohai Biological Technology have achieve multilevel product coverage from PMMA intraocular lens to foldable multifocal intraocular lens and formed good product positioning complementation among brand, technology and price differentiations, capable to meet different clinical application requirements.

 

The senior management of Haohai Biological Technology, however, is deeply aware that it is not enough to merely master the production technology for intraocular lens. In the field of biomedical materials, due to the absence of raw materials on domestic markets, foreign suppliers have long been “squeezing ” the “neck” of related industries at home, which is also true of the intraocular lens field.

 

To break this stalemate, Haohai Biological Technology acquired 70% shares in UK-based Contamac in 2017 to expand its presence in the field of ophthalmicmaterials. So far, worldwide, Haohai Biological Technology has achieved acquisition and integration from upstream raw material manufacturers to specialized developers, manufacturers and sellers of intraocular lens.

 

Currently, calculated based on the annual cataract surgery statistics released by www.moheyes.com, the 2018 sales volume of intraocular lens brands of the company accounts for about 30% of the intraocular lens used on the Chinese market, the highest sales volume ever achieved by a Chinese company. In terms of global markets, based on the 2018 statistics of Market Scope, if calculated by ex-works price, Haohai Biological Technology has become the world’s eighth largest intraocular lens manufacturer. Meanwhile, Contamac, is also the world’s largest independent supplier of intraocular lens and ophthalmic materials, providing about 14 million pieces of intraocular lens and ophthalmic materials to more than 400 customers in nearly 70 countries worldwide each year.
 

 
 

While realizing its goal of import substitution in intraocular lens step by step, the company’s senior management also acutely captured the tremendous opportunities and challenges brought by the huge population of dry eye and myopia patients in China. In 2014, the company launched Eyesucom eye drops, the only Class 3 medical device dye drop product containing the exclusively patented component of medical chitosan so far, which is mainly formulated from water-soluble medical chitin and sodium hyaluronate, free of preservatives, naturally inhibiting bacteria and capable to promote the repair of corneal epithelial cells and effectively improve the ocular surface symptoms and dry eye symptoms of corneal contact lens wearers

 

In 2020, the company acquired 55% shares in a high-tech innovation-driven company called Hangzhou AIJINGLUN Technology Co., Ltd and included PRL in its ophthalmic product portfolio, which is the only domesticposterior chamber phakic refractive lens in China that is used to correct myopia, thus further optimizing its presence along the ophthalmic industry chain, expanding its competitive edge of ophthalmic product line and injecting new vitality into sustainable development of its ophthalmic business.

 

Currently, Haohai Biological Technology is also actively working on its ophthalmic products such as orthokeratologylens, Bimatoprost Ophthalmic Solution, Moxifloxacin HCl Ophthalmic Solution, lidocaine hydrochloride ophthalmic gel, aspheric multifocal intraocular lens and new-type artificialvitreous body, further optimizing its presence along the ophthalmic industry chain, expanding its competitive edge of ophthalmic product line and injecting new vitality into sustainable development of its ophthalmic business.

 

It is worth mentioning that the new-generation gas permeable contact lens material “Optimum Infinite” developed by Contamac, a subsidiary of Haohai Biological Technology, has been approved by FDA for marketing in 2019. This material can be widely used in such ophthalmic products as orthokeratology lens, sclera contact lens and soft corneal contact lens. Of them, the new-type orthokeratology lens product developed by the company using internally-generated optical design system and based on highly permeable material developed by Contamac has passed registration and validation and officially entered the phase of clinical trial.

 

Meanwhile, Moxifloxacin HCl Ophthalmic Solution, lidocaine hydrochloride ophthalmic gel and other ophthalmic products have also entered the phase of filing for production.

 

Last, a chart of Haohai Biological Technology’s entire ophthalmic product portfolio is presented to you for more intuitive browsing.