_{Photo: Bernie Iliakis hosts a lively conversation at ASCRS Boston with
Edward J. Holland M.D. and Terry Kim M.D.}

Bernie’s Quarterly Update – April 2024

April 23, 2024

A message from Bernie Iliakis, President & CEO of CorneaGen

What a successful first quarter of 2024 here at CorneaGen. We just wrapped another hugely successful ASCRS annual meeting, where we showcased our innovative treatment for keratoconic eyes Corneal Tissue Addition for Keratoplasty (CTAK).

CTAK Surgical Demonstration at ASCRS 2024

Our booth-talk and hands-on wet labs generated significant interest and buzz.

To date, we’ve helped 118 patients generating very positive results and surgeon feedback. Broad availability is coming very soon, so I recommend getting in line now. More ASCRS news is to come as the team has a chance to recap all the important learnings and interactions.

Focusing on the last three months, I’m excited to share the following highlights and milestones, as we continue the innovative work for the year ahead.

Partnerships and programs

I traveled to Tokyo for the Japan Cornea Conference during Q1, meeting with partner surgeons overseas and sponsoring the first wet labs at that conference. Japan has been an important market for CorneaGen for over 27 years, as we serve those in need of the life changing gift of sight there, in addition to patients in 50 other countries. With nine offices and/or laboratories in the US, plus partnerships with more than 25 eye/organ/tissue banks, we’re honored to help meet corneal transplant needs around the world.

We held the first East Coast edition (in North Carolina) of our program for Corneal Fellows, bringing area surgeons together to learn about the journey of the donor cornea and eye banking in general. I’m really proud of the work to provide this educational opportunity, which allows us all to learn and consider ways to improve how we treat and care for those affected by corneal disease.

Product and service innovation

CorneaGen supplied more than 32,500 sight-restoring grafts last year. We announced that number last month, and it’s worth repeating—this is a record amount of tissue that positively affects a record number of lives.

The EndoSerter-PL has been used in 2,200 successful surgeries since our 2022 launch optimizing critical time in the OR. Our industry leading DMEK solution, the Geuder Pre-Loaded Glass Cannula, continues to be the pre-loaded solution of choice. Our Long-Term Tissue program, providing sterile grafts for glaucoma and cornea surgeries, continues to show impressive growth and our processing expertise, operational excellence and customer service continue to be world class in the industry.

In closing, my heartfelt thanks to everyone in the industry—surgeons, companies, eye banks—for helping support our mission at CorneaGen to provide the highest quality donor tissue, unparalleled service, and superior products. We cannot do it without each of you.

I look forward to connecting again at the end of the second quarter. Thank you.