Lutronic makes inroads into global ophthalmic laser market

Hwang Hae-lyung

CEO of Lutronic

Hwang Hae-lyung is the founder and CEO of Lutronic, which exports its medical devices to 60 countries. Lutronic, best known for its laser aesthetic devices, is expanding into other areas, including ophthalmology and minimally invasive surgery.

Some 23 million people around the world suffer from diabetic macular edema (DME), the leading cause of vision loss among working-age adults in most developed countries. Laser coagulation and anti-VEGF injections are the two most common methods of treatment for DME, which is caused by fluid accumulation in the macula, or the central portion of the retina. But each method has a downside. Lasers can damage the macula, which in turn can cause peripheral vision loss, or rarely, total blindness. On the other hand, treatment with anti-VEGF agents is costly and could take years; besides, there is a risk that the patient may develop drug tolerance in the process. A new treatment method that is safer, cheaper and more effective will be available from next year. Over the past five years, Lutronic, a medical device company based in Seoul, has been developing a new technology that targets only the trouble spots in the retinal pigment epithelium, or RPE, which lowers the risk of damaging macula. RPE plays an important pump function to maintain the health of the eye. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has already confirmed the effectiveness and safety of the groundbreaking medical appliance, AM10. “That will be a major turning point for our company,” Lutronic CEO Hwang Hae-lyung, 58, said in an interview.
“I have no doubt the device will succeed.” His confidence isn’t baseless. According to the research firm Marketscope, the global market size of anti-VEGF agents — Lucentis and Eylea — last year was more than $7 billion. Considering the sales of Avastin, a generid agent, the total market size was believed to be over $14 billion. “I’m expecting AM10 to be well received globally,” he said. “Once they use our device, doctors around the world will be convinced that it is a great option for DME treatment.”
To increase the international recognition for the device’s effectiveness and safety, Hwang has been working with many experts in ophthalmology, patents and marketing around the world. Elias Reichel, a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in the United States, and Johan Roider, a former president of the German Ophthalmology Society, are among the experts. Meanwhile, the company is expanding into other treatments for eye diseases. For instance, its researchers are developing safer and more effective treatment methods for age-related macular degeneration and central serous chorioretinopathy. Hwang said that Lutronic will bring great clinical value to people with significant eye diseases. Korea’s exports of medical and healthcare equipment have been rising in recent years. According to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute’s latest data, such exports increased by 20 percent from 2008 to 2013. Lutronic is one of the few companies that export their products mostly to developed countries such as Germany, Britain and the United States rather than to developing ones in Southeast Asia and South America. Hwang said nearly 70 percent of Lutronic’s products are exported. Among them, he noted, 50 percent are exported to developed countries in Europe and North America.
What makes Lutronic stand out from its competitors is its innovativeness. He said the company, which spends 20 percent of its revenues on research and development, holds over 200 patents, including those which are pending. “We are living in a world, where a brewer in a small town in Germany can be world famous for its tasty beers. I want to set a good example in the medical device industry.”

Destined to innovate

Hwang established Lutronic in 1997. Not long after, the company was hit by the Asian financial crisis, which required bailouts from the IMF. During that period, a slew of companies shut down. Amid the uncertainty in the domestic market, Hwang thought the only way to overcome the crisis was to develop technologies that can be exported. “These were very difficult times,” he said. “There was very little money available to run the company. We all took deep pay cuts, but everyone was loyal and they stayed with me.”
In 1999, the company introduced its first product, Spectra VRM, a laser device that can be used for dermatological and aesthetic procedures such as removing wrinkles and melasma, to the market. To ensure the success of the machine, which was critical to the survival and growth of the company, Hwang sold his house to raise enough funds for research and development. “Yet there was a trust issue with ‘Made in Korea.’ Few doctors trusted our product at first,” he said. “At that time, most hospitals here used machines from the United States or Europe.” However, after the device obtained clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the following year, the perception of Lutronic’s Spectra VRM started to change. “Doctors here and abroad started paying attention to Lutronic. Many doctors who used our product helped promote its quality,” he said. “In 2001, we began exporting it to Taiwan.” Lutronic is known largely for its medical aesthetic devices. However, Hwang believes the future of Lutronic lies in the field of ophthalmology. “From the beginning, innovation was a make-or-break matter for Lutronic. We will continue to invest in developing new technologies and go beyond what we are presently capable of,” he said.