Dear Partners,

We have concluded a unique and very challenging year, for all of us, no matter where we live. As citizens of this world once again we have realized we are all dependent on each other. A local event that begins on one side of the globe, rapidly expands to impact the entire planet. On the bright side, the global drive to cure the pandemic has been nothing less than impressive. Today, a year away from the outbreak, we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

For us at Hanita Lenses, COVID19 has had an impact on our sales and marketing activities. Statistics show an overall global decrease in cataract surgeries of 30% to 40%, with very few markets (such as Taiwan) managing to maintain a COVID19 free environment with only a little impact on the volume of cataract surgeries.

Nevertheless, during this period, we have made great progress in some areas. First and foremost, our 2-year long clinical study of Intensity IOL lead by Prof. Ehud Assia was successfully completed, with 20 highly satisfied patients. Within a few months more than 700 Intensity lenses were implanted by over 100 surgeons in 10 countries, and growing.

A second milestone was the completion of a clinical study of our new and unique AssiaAnchor device, a novel design to treat subluxated capsules and lenses. We expect this device will be CE approved and available in a few months.  

In addition, despite the decline in overall sales and marketing activities reported above, the emphasis our partners placed on PREMIUM solutions has lead to an increase of over 25% in sales compared to 2019. We believe this trend will continue as we launch additional premium solutions in hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials.

As a result of the imposed travel restrictions, Hanita invested substantial effort in advancing communication with its partners and with surgeons worldwide through extensive webinars and virtual activities dedicated to education, technology, and presentation of clinical outcomes.

Finally, we continue our efforts to increase Hanita Lenses global presence. These efforts have lead to new distribution agreements in 6 countries which we anticipate to contribute to our growth in 2021 and beyond.