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Article: Rival Firms Celebrate FDA Approval of Laser Eye Surgery Treatment.(Originated from The Boston Globe)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- April 26, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Apr. 26--A California firm's laser eye surgery treatment for astigmatism has won approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration. But the company's chief rival, Waltham-based medical equipment maker Summit Technology Inc., yesterday hailed the announcement as good news for both firms.
Visx Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. competes with Summit in the market for lasers that are used to correct nearsightedness by using pulses of light to reshape the patient's eyeball. It's a sizable market, since about 55 million Americans are nearsighted.
Another 28 million suffer from astigmatism, a defect that impairs focusing and which hasn't been treatable ...