Acuvue (from "Accurate view") is a brand of disposable contact lenses made in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Florida and

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

-based Vistakon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (J&J).

Overview

Acuvue lenses got their start at Frontier Contact Lens Company, founded in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

in 1959 by Dr. Allen Isen, George Sitterle, and Dr. William Feinbloom. Its early growth was attributed to its highly successful toric lens. In 1962, Seymour Marco joined the venture and Frontier moved its operations to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. With 30 employees, Frontier manufactured a line of hard contact lenses through the 1970s. During the 1970s, Frontier developed a new material (etafilcon A), and the company began making soft lenses. Frontier was among the first in the US to take this material, widely used in Europe, and combine it with a lathe cutting process to produce soft contact lenses. In 1981, Johnson & Johnson acquired Frontier Contact Lenses and renamed the company Vistakon. The production process at the time of sale was very manual––every employee on the production line handled the lenses, whether they were lathing, polishing, or inspecting. Vistakon decided to invest in a new production process in order to scale. Utilizing Stabilized Soft Molding (SSM) technology, Vistakon undertook a major overhaul in its production processes. As a result, Acuvue was introduced to the market in 1987. The lens was originally indicated for seven-day extended wear and later became a daily wear lens. Today, there is a line which ranges from the 1-day wear to two-week lenses such as the Acuvue 2 and Oasys and the Vita monthly lens. Today, all of Vistakon's manufacturing facilities are located in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, with the exception of one plant located in

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

Family of Acuvue brands

Daily Disposable Contact Lenses: *1-Day Acuvue Moist – (etafilcon A) hydrogel material (available for

astigmatism Astigmatism is a type of refractive error due to rotational asymmetry in the eye's refractive power. This results in distorted or blurred vision at any distance. Other symptoms can include eyestrain, headaches, and trouble driving at n ...

and

presbyopia Presbyopia is physiological insufficiency of accommodation associated with the aging of the eye that results in progressively worsening ability to focus clearly on close objects. Also known as age-related farsightedness (or age-related long si ...

). Introduced in 2006. *1-Day Acuvue TruEye – (narafilcon A) first silicone hydrogel daily disposable released 2008 in European Markets and 2010 in North America. *1-Day Acuvue Define – hydrogel material (UK release solely in

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and D&A opticians in 2010) *1-Day Acuvue Define Accent – hydrogel material (Far East markets) *1-Day Acuvue Oasys with HydraLuxe – (senofilcon A) silicone hydrogel material (available for

) Two Week Disposable: *Acuvue 2 – (etafilcon A) hydrogel material. Introduced in 1999. *Acuvue Oasys – (senofilcon A) silicone hydrogel material (available for

in US and

in most other markets). Introduced in 2005. Monthly Disposable: *Acuvue Vita – (senofilcon C) Methyl ether cellulose. Introduced in 2016. Surevue was also produced by Vistakon but not under the Acuvue brand. Surevue contact lenses were a less expensive alternative to Acuvue.

Discontinued brands

* Acuvue – (etafilcon A) Original 1–2 week lenses, introduced in 1987. Discontinued 3/31/2015. * 1-Day Acuvue – (etafilcon A) Original daily lenses, introduced in 1995. Discontinued 12/31/2017. * Acuvue Advance – (galyfilcon A) Introduced in 2003. Discontinued 3/31/2015.

References

{{Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson brands Contact lenses Companies based in Jacksonville, Florida Eyewear companies of the United States

Overview

Family of Acuvue brands

Discontinued brands

External links

References