Sir
Disposable contact lenses are becoming a commodity product if they are not one already ('Inventor aims to transform disposable contact lens market', April 26). The patents owned by major manufacturers have expired and there is a growth of small and medium-size companies both in the US and Europe that can offer the same comfort and visual acuity as the larger competitors. This trend ultimately benefits consumers around the world.
Major manufacturers need to be more innovative by focusing on torics (astigmatism), bifocals, extended wear lenses (silicon hydrogels) and using contact lenses as a platform for drug delivery in order to avoid margin erosion. The future also lies in customised lenses whereby manufacturers look at correcting high-order aberrations using wavefront technologies and manufacture individualised lenses. Consumers could then experience 'superhuman' vision beyond 20/20.
The manufacturing technology does not exist to make this commercially viable but hopefully will in the near future.
