Acuvue (from "Accurate view") is a brand of disposable

contact lens Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmeti ...

es made in Jacksonville 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 2 ...

-based Vistakon, a subsidiary of

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

(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 largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

. 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,

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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, 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 the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

Family of Acuvue brands

Daily Disposable Contact Lenses: *1-Day Acuvue Moist – (etafilcon A) hydrogel material (available for astigmatism and presbyopia). 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 Boots 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 astigmatism) Two Week Disposable: *Acuvue 2 – (etafilcon A) hydrogel material. Introduced in 1999. *Acuvue Oasys – (senofilcon A) silicone hydrogel material (available for presbyopia in US and astigmatism 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