Queen's Award for Enterprise to Rayner, leading UK manufacturer of cataract implants

Only British company manufacturing intraocular lenses, restoring sight to millions worldwide

Hove, United Kingdom, 21 April: Today the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise is awarded to Rayner Intraocular Lenses Limited, placing it among the most successful businesses in the United Kingdom. The prestigious award recognises sustained international trade in overseas markets and growing commercial success. Rayner employs over 120 people, mainly from the local Hove community and trades across 67 markets worldwide. The company frequently donates Intraocular Lenses (IOLs) – implants used in cataract surgery – free of charge to charities in developing countries, where cataract remains the most common cause of blindness.1

Mr. Charles Claoué, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon, Queen’s University Hospital, London commented: “This recognition is well-deserved. Rayner is the most dynamic and innovative IOL company in the world and has a glorious history including having made the first ever IOL. As we move into the 21st century the role of the IOL will evolve allowing better outcomes in cataract surgery and find new roles in surgery to improve vision such as through the treatment of presbyopia [age-related deterioration of sight resulting in difficulties to focus on objects]. At a time of global financial stress it is impressive for a British company to be achieving so much and excelling in the world marketplace.”

Rayner is the only British manufacturer of IOLs and will celebrate this year 60 years of continuous manufacturing and sales. The company continues to lead this competitive marketplace with new innovative designs of IOLs. Rayner was founded in 1910 by optician J. B. Reiner (Rayner) and in the 1940s British surgeon Sir Harold Ridley who worked closely with Rayner made the world’s first sight-restoring IOL. Today Rayner is committed to Ridley’s vision of making IOLs accessible to all, for the benefit of people everywhere and in all walks of life.

“The award is a testament to our commitment to medical and scientific advancement, for without new lenses and new applications for IOL technology we can’t grow the business. We’re in the business of helping people get back that most valuable of the human senses: sight. I’m confident that with this Award, more than ever, the Rayner management and employees share the vision to remain innovative and explore new markets, to ensure we can continue to improve the quality of people’s lives, restoring sight”, commented Donald J. Munro, Chairman and Managing Director of Rayner.

Rayner has advanced from making only monofocal lenses for cataract surgery – the most common single surgical procedure in the developed world1 – to excelling in toric and multifocal lens design. In the UK, premium multifocal IOLs treat presbyopia and are currently only available in private practice, for a cost of approximately £2,500 per eye, with no option to ‘top-up’ from NHS-funded cataract surgery. Rayner’s multifocal IOLs permit focus for long, intermediate and short distances. Patients report an average vision score of 92% following implantation of an IOL, where 100% would mean no disability2. Rayner also remains committed to researching new biomaterials that offer exciting possibilities for future IOL development.

“We are a British manufacturer that is proud of the fact that we have refused to shift manufacture overseas but instead take our products to these markets and succeed. In Russia, Korea, Brazil, India, USA, Germany and many other countries we win by finding excellent local business partners, teaming up with their eye surgeon-customers and bringing internationally renowned surgeons from one country to another, passing on skills and exchanging clinical results. This week it is a tour of four Chinese cities where we are hosting educational seminars for audiences of hundreds of eye surgeons wanting to learn more about our lenses, especially the multifocal and multifocal toric lenses”, commented Donald J. Munro, Chairman and Managing Director of Rayner.

The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are bestowed on an elite group of UK companies that have excelled in business performance. The award recognises and rewards exceptional accomplishment by British companies and is presented for international trade, innovation or sustainable growth. On the advice of the Prime Minister, supported by an advisory committee that includes representatives of government, industry and commerce, and the trade unions, the awards are announced each year on this day the Queen’s birthday.

www.queensawards.org.uk/business/business.html

References

1. World Health Organisation. Cataract.

www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/index1.html [Accessed 20 April 2009].

2. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. 2009. Implantation of an opaque intraocular lens.