Presbyopia, the inability to focus close-up that come with aging, represents a blockbuster market opportunity since virtually everyone eventually suffers from the condition. The success of LASIK (laser surgery for vision correction) has created a demand on the part of patients and physicians for an alternative to glasses for the middle aged. C&C Vision hopes to be the first to offer a surgical treatment for presbyopia. Like others going after the market, however, C&C aims to validate its technology by addressing a medical need first: it is initially targeting cataracts. In doing so, however, it faces the risk of sidling up to, rather than directly attacking, the presbyopia market upon which it desires to be valued.

The high visibility of new laser technologies for vision correction or refractive surgery, a widely-publicized consumer market, has obscured the fact that there are even greater needs in the ophthalmic market; 13 million patients suffer from age-related macular degeneration, 4-6 million patients suffer from diabetic retinopathy, and 89 million Americans are troubled by "old vision" or presbyopia.

IntraLase Corp. thinks it can expand the consumer market for refractive surgery with a new solid state, ultrafast laser, that, according to the company, is precise, makes smooth cuts, and has the ability to penetrate translucent tissue, unlike excimer lasers. The company feels its system will make refractive procedures available to consumers at half the price of currently available procedures.