World Glaucoma Day Planned for March 12, 2009
The World Glaucoma Association (WGA) and the World Glaucoma Patient Association will celebrate the second Annual World Glaucoma Day on March 12, 2008. Agencies and individual participants in this global event will raise public awareness of glaucoma by disseminating educational literature, conducting free vision screenings, holding professional conferences, initiating community outreach programs, and encouraging coverage by media outlets.

Some of the events scheduled for World Glaucoma Day include the following:

• Conferences in Montreal; Santiago, Chile; Tehran, Iran; Lagos, Nigeria; Birmingham, United Kingdom; New York; and other major cities
• Vision testing sessions at the House of Commons and The Commonwealth Club in London
• A screening event for delegates and staff of the United Nations in New York conducted by Robert Ritch, MD, and other ophthalmologists from the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
• A March for Sight in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda
• A workshop in Kota Bharu, Malaysia, on the role of IOP in glaucoma
• Open-door days at ophthalmology departments and clinics worldwide.

For more information about World Glaucoma Day or to organize, sponsor, or participate in an event near you, visit www.wgday.net.

New Occupational Listing for Ophthalmic Technicians
The US Bureau of Labor's 2010 Standard Occupational Committee has created the position of ophthalmic medical technician to recognize the special skills of allied health care professionals who work in ophthalmic settings.

According to a news release from the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology, the new occupational classification "communicates the complexity and range of tasks É that differentiates [the new classification] from medical assisting." The classification applies to all three levels of certification provided by the Joint Commission of Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (certified ophthalmic assistant, certified ophthalmic technician, and certified ophthalmic medical technologist).

FDA Clears Retinal Imaging Device
The FDA cleared the Spectral OCT SLO (OPKO Health, Inc., Miami, FL) for clinical use in the United States. The device, which combines optical coherence tomography with confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, acquires in vivo high-resolution cross-sectional and three-dimensional images of the fundus. In addition to providing information about retinal thickness and topography, the Spectral OCT SLO reportedly helps physicians detect and follow the degenerative changes associated with glaucoma and other retinal pathologies.

Company to Publish Payments to Health Care Professionals
Pfizer, Inc. (New York, NY), plans to disclose the sizeable payments it makes to health care professionals who serve as its consultants, speakers, and clinical investigators. According to a news release from the biopharmaceutical company, this policy will apply to any practicing health care worker who prescribes drugs, major institutions hosting ongoing trials, and principal investigators involved in phase 1 to phase 4 clinical trials "whose aggregate [compensation] exceeds $500 in a calendar year, including the value of nonmonetary items, such as [a] meal, that exceed $25 in value."

Pfizer will publish its first annual report of disbursements on its Web site early in 2010. The listing will include the names of the individuals and institutions that received payments from the company, the services provided by the recipients, and the amount paid since July 1, 2009.

Abbott and AMO Sign Acquisition Agreement
Abbott (Abbott Park, IL) and Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. (AMO; Santa Ana, CA) have signed a definitive agreement for Abbott to acquire AMO for $22 per share in cash, a total value of approximately $2.8 billion, which includes the estimated net debt at the time of closing. The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of this year.

Jim Mazzo, AMO's chairman and chief executive officer, will remain with Abbott as the president of AMO. "Joining forces with Abbott will fortify our position as a global ophthalmic medical device leader and enhance our ability to serve eye care practitioners and patients around the world," Mr. Mazzo said in a news release.

"With AMO, Abbott will immediately become a global leader in vision," said John M. Capek, executive vice president, medical devices, for Abbott. "The business is poised for long-term growth, driven by advances in refractive surgery technologies, including LASIK, and an aging global population."

Study Finds Elevated Levels of Amino Acid in Glaucoma Patients
A prospective, cross-sectional study detected elevated levels of homocysteine (>14 µmol/L for males, >12 µmol/L for females) in the blood of patients with pseudoexfoliative (n = 48), primary open-angle (n = 36), and normal-tension glaucoma (n = 34).¹ Homocysteine is a known independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and, according to the study's investigators, "has been shown to correlate strongly with vascular disorders that specifically affect the eye."¹

The investigators observed similar rates of hyperhomocysteinemia among all the patients with glaucoma (pseudoexfoliative = 27.6%, primary open-angle = 30.6%, normal-tension = 29.4%). In comparison, only 2.4% of the patients in the control group (n = 42) met the criteria for hyperhomocysteinemia. The investigators could not link the incidence of elevated levels of plasma homocysteine among the glaucoma patients with a mutated form of the MTHFR C677T gene (the most common genetic cause of hyperhomocysteinemia), however, because the researchers did not observe a significant difference in the frequency of the MTHFR mutation between glaucoma patients and control subjects.

1. Clement CI, Goldberg I, Healey PR, Graham SL. Plasma homocysteine, MTHFR gene mutation, and open-angle glaucoma. J Glaucoma. 2009;18(1):73-78.

Ethnicity and Normal-Tension Glaucoma
A retrospective review of medical records showed a higher proportion of normal-tension versus high-tension glaucoma among Japanese Americans treated at two private ophthalmology clinics in California.¹

Of the patients who had glaucoma (112 of 1,732 [6.4%]), 17% (19 of 112) had high-tension glaucoma, and 70% (78 of 112) had normal-tension glaucoma. The remaining 15 patients had angle-closure, mixed-mechanism, or secondary glaucoma.

Based on these results, the investigators concluded that "the prevalence and presentation of glaucoma among Japanese persons in the United States may be different from other American ethnicities and possibly mainland Japanese."¹ The researchers therefore urged their fellow ophthalmologists to be aware of potential differences when evaluating Japanese American patients for glaucoma.

1. Pekmezci M, Vo B, Lim AK, et al. The characteristics of glaucoma in Japanese Americans. Arch Ophthalmol. 2009;127(2):167-171.

Pharmaceutical Companies to Merge
Pfizer, Inc. (New York, NY), announced that it will acquire Wyeth (Madison, NJ) for $50.19 per share in a transaction totaling approximately $68 billion. A joint news release from the companies stated that the transaction will be financed through a combination of cash, debt, and stock. A consortium of banks has provided commitments for a total of $22.5 billion in debt.

Pfizer currently manufactures the prostaglandin analogue Xalatan (latanoprost ophthalmic solution) and, until last summer, was codeveloping a nitric oxide-donating formulation of latanoprost with NicOx SA (Sophia Antipolis, France). The company suspended clinical trials of the experimental drug in August 2008. Wyeth's portfolio includes one glaucoma drug (phospholine iodide) and a wide array of biotech drugs and vaccines.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the merger will help Pfizer replace the approximately $13 billion in revenue it will lose when the patent on its cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) expires in 2011.¹ The merger is also expected to bring big job cuts at the combined company (approximately 19,500 jobs over the next 3 years) and may also lead to the closure of Wyeth's corporate headquarters in New Jersey.²

1. Hill M. Mixed response to Pfizer's buying Wyeth. Philadelphia Inquirer. January 7, 2009: www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/38440404.html. Accessed February 18, 2009.
2. McGeehan P. Thousands of job cuts likely after drug merger. New York Times. January 26, 2009: www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/nyregion/27impact.html. Accessed February 18, 2009.

Occulogix Doing Business as TearLab Corporation
Occulogix, Inc. (San Diego, CA), will immediately begin conducting business as TearLab Corporation. According to a company news release, Occulogix has changed its stock ticker symbols on the Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchange to TEAR and TLB, respectively. The official name change will be effective when stockholder approval has been received. "Implementing the new name and ticker symbol enables us to align our corporate brand with our vision to become the leader in tear testing and biomarker analysis at the point-of-care," Eric Donsky, chief executive officer of TearLab Corporation, said in a news release.