Novartis Ag

Ciba-Geigy Corporation

Ciba Vision Corporation

Alcon, Inc.

Novartis Corporation

The Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.

Eyesense Ag

Bernhard Seiferling

Peter Hagmann

Axel Heinrich

Peter Herbrechtsmeier

Harald Bothe

Achim Muller

John Golby

Otto Kretzschmar

Sharla Borghorst

John Martin Lally

Horst Schafer

Deborah Jean Mulcahy

Roger Biel

Robert Allen Janssen

Beat Muller

Robert Earl Szokolay

Willi Hoerner

Harro M Von Der Haegen

Lynn Cook Winterton

John Dallas Pruitt

Friedrich Stockinger

Yasuo Matsuzawa

Werner Steffan

Michele De Lucchi

Achim Müller

Günter Lässig

Uwe Haken

Gabriela Cocora

Daryl Reece

Honghui Lu

Torsten Fritze

Karl F Mueller

Michael Wolf

Mitsuo Shibutani

Masahiro Saito

Katharina Schmid

Juergen Vogt

William Jordan Hall

Jürgen Vogt

Beat Müller

Michael C Bochnik

Beat M&uuml;ller

Katharina Nikolaus

Jüergen Vogt

Erich Gruber

Thomas Pohlmann

Erich Baumann

Heike Arndt

Masahiko Cubo

Carlton Pope

Achim M&uuml;ller

Roland Hauck

Gerhard Wenz

Rolf Siegel

Egbert Jux

Stephan Wittmar

Jordan Hall

Charlotte Lynn Cooper

Thomas Wasse

Anette Therese Lang-Sch&ouml;ll

Karl Baur

Iris Leder

Anette Lang

Thomas Schulz

Justyna Justynska

Arnulf-Dieter Schluter

Rainer Freudenberger

Klaus Wenke

Norbert Söllner

Jiro Tsuchiya

Iris Leder-Bruck

Thomas Richter

Hirohiko Miura

Iris Jlona Leder-Brück

Mark Hülsebusch

Norbert S&ouml;llner

Wilhelm H&ouml;rner

Iris Jlona Leder-Br&uuml;ck

Thomas Schmidt

Achim Mueller

Wolfgang Hofmann

The invention is generally related to soft contact lenses which comprise a polyvinylalcohol-based hydrogel lens body and a durable lubricious coating thereon which are covalently attached to the polyvinylalcohol-based hydrogel lens body through 6-membered acetal rings and to a method for producing the same.

Soft contact lenses with a lubricious coating covalently-attached thereon

There is described a method of separating excess lens forming material from a molded ophthalmic lens, in particular a contact lens. After polymerization and/or cross-linking of a lens forming material (P) within a mold cavity () of a mold () comprising female and male mold halves () to form an ophthalmic lens non-polymerized and/or non-cross-linked lens forming material is flushed away from the mold halves () with a jet of a fluid flushing medium, such as, e.g., water or a solvent or an inert gas. Subsequently the molded lens is dried. In accordance with the invention the flushing is accomplished with the mold halves () still in the closed position. There is also described an apparatus for carrying out the method.

Method of separating excess lens forming material from a molded ophthalmic lens, in particular a contact lens

The present invention provides a crosslinkable prepolymer which can be used to produce crosslinked polymeric materials (or contact lenses containing the same) having a high strength and excellent durability. The present invention relates to a polyvinyl alcohol-based prepolymer containing a unit having a pendant 1,2-diol containing group and a unit having a specific crosslinkable functional group, as well as a molding using the same.

Crosslinkable polymer

There is described a process for manufacturing an ophthalmic lens and an apparatus for forming an ophthalmic lens, in particular a silicone hydrogel contact lens, wherein in a mold assembly a first and a second mold half () are first arranged in an intermediate closed position in which the mold surfaces of the two mold halves are spaced apart from each other at a distance increase (d1) of preferably 1 to 100 &#x3bc;m relative to a final distance (d0) in a final closed position, and wherein, during curing of the lens forming material (), the mold surfaces () of the mold halves () are actively or passively moved or moving from the intermediate closed position to the final closed position, where the distance increase (d1) is 0.

Process for manufacturing an ophthalmic lens

There is described a composition for forming an contact lens, in particular for forming a silicone hydrogel contact lens, comprising at least one first vinylic monomer or macromer having one first ethylenically unsaturated group and at least one second vinylic monomer or macromer having one second ethylenically unsaturated group, wherein the first and second ethylenically unsaturated groups are different from each other and wherein the composition further comprises a crosslinker with at least two ethylenically unsaturated (polymerizable) groups with a selected kinetic copolymerization parameter rof less than 1.0 relative to one of the first and second ethylenically unsaturated (polymerizable) groups as defined above.

Composition for forming a contact lens

There is described a process for manufacturing an ophthalmic lens and an apparatus for forming an ophthalmic lens, in particular a silicone hydrogel contact lens, wherein in a mold assembly a first and a second mold half () are first arranged in an intermediate closed position in which the mold surfaces of the two mold halves are spaced apart from each other at a distance increase (d) of preferably 1 to 100 &#x3bc;m relative to a final distance (d) in a final closed position, and wherein, during curing of the lens forming material (), the mold surfaces () of the mold halves () are actively or passively moved or moving from the intermediate closed position to the final closed position, where the distance increase (d) is 0.

The instant invention pertains to a method and a fluid composition for producing contact lenses with improved lens quality and with increased product yield. The method of the invention involves adding a phospholipid into a fluid composition including a lens-forming material in an amount sufficient to reduce an averaged mold separation force by at least about 40% in comparison with that without the phospholipids.

Method for making contact lenses

The invention is concerned with the problem that with known plastic casting molds, especially those of polypropylene, the lenses produced with these molds have a slippery surface. The invention solves this problem through the use of polymers which are notable for their very low oxygen permeability.

Process for the production of contact lenses using plastic castings molds

The invention provide a class of actinically-crosslinkable silicone-containing prepolymers which comprise dangling polysiloxane chains each having a terminal ethylenically-unsaturated group and are obtained in a one-step of RAFT polymerization of a reactive mixture comprising a polysiloxane crosslinker, a hydrophilic vinylic monomer, a RAFT agent, and a free-radical initiator. The present invention is also related to silicone hydrogel contact lenses made from a prepolymer of the invention and methods for making the contact lenses in a cost-effective way and with high consistency and high fidelity to the original lens design.

Actinically-crosslinkable siloxane-containing copolymers

The invention relates to a process for the manufacture of a hydrophilic coating on a biomedical article, which comprises treating the biomedical article for a time period of &#x2266;5 minutes with a solution of an organic solvent comprising a polyanionic compound with a number average molecular weight Mof &#x3e;5000, wherein the solution comprises less than 10% by weight of water, and wherein the solution is devoid of a cationic polymer. The coated biomedical articles obtainable by the process of the invention have desirable characteristics regarding adherence to the substrate, durability, hydrophilicity, wettability, biocompatibility and permeability and are thus especially useful in the field of ophthalmic devices.

Process for the coating of biomedical articles

A measured amount of a material that is crosslinkable by impingement of a suitable form of energy, especially UV light, is introduced into a two-part mould of which the cavity determines the shape of a moulding to be produced. The two mould halves are held a small distance from one another so that a thin annular gap is formed between them, which gap is in communication with the mould cavity and through which gap excess material can escape. The crosslinking is triggered by impingement of the selected form of energy, the impingement being spatially restricted to the cavity by suitable masking so that material disposed outside the mould cavity is not crosslinked. In that manner mouldings are obtained that do not require subsequent mechanical processing, and the mould is reusable. The process is especially, but not, however, exclusively, suitable for the manufacture of contact lenses.

Process for the manufacture of mouldings

The invention is concerned with the problem that with known plastic casting moulds, especially those of polypropylene, the lenses produced with these moulds have a slippery surface. The invention solves this problem through the use of polymers which are notable for their very low oxygen permeability.

Plastic castings molds

Growing community of inventors

Goldbach, Germany

Bernhard Seiferling