Full Press Release Details
Second Sight Announces Dr. Robert Greenberg's
Resignation from Board of Directors and as an Officer of the Company
Los Angeles, CA - April 9, 2018 -
Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYES) ("Second Sight" or "the Company"), a developer, manufacturer
and marketer of implantable visual prosthetics that are intended to create an artificial form of useful vision to blind patients,
today announced that Dr. Robert Greenberg, MD, PhD has resigned from the Company's Board of Directors and the Company, effective
April 3, 2018. Dr. Robert Greenberg has served on the Board of Directors since May 2003, as Chief Executive Officer from December
1998 to August 2015, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors from August 2015 to March 2018.
working with Bob to advance Second Sight's breakthrough technologies and bring them to market worldwide. Second Sight has
benefited from his deep clinical insights and extensive industry and technical knowledge. On behalf of the entire management team,
we sincerely appreciate his contributions over the years towards achieving Second Sight's mission of treating nearly all
forms of blindness and wish him well. As we move forward, I am confident that we have the right team in place to execute upon our
R&D and clinical programs," stated Will McGuire, President and Chief Executive Officer of Second Sight.
"On behalf of the Board
of Directors, I would like to thank Bob for his contributions to Second Sight. I look forward to our ongoing achievements as
we transition to the next phase of growth and accelerate our efforts towards the full commercial success of the Argus
II Retinal Prosthesis System and our revolutionary Orion
Cortical Visual Prosthesis System. We remain focused on providing life-changing benefits to our customers with an
emphasis on creating long-term value for our shareholders," said Gregg Williams, Chairman of the Board of Second
"I would like to thank the past and current
employees of Second Sight, our many partners, most importantly, the patient volunteers, and the investors who have supported our
mission to help the blind to once again see," said Dr. Greenberg.
Second Sight's mission is to develop, manufacture
and market innovative implantable visual prosthetics to enable blind individuals to achieve greater independence. Second Sight
has developed, and now manufactures and markets, the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. Development of new hardware
and software intended to improve the quality of the vision produced by the Argus system is ongoing. Second Sight is also developing
the Orion Visual Cortical Prosthesis to restore some vision to individuals who are blind due to many causes other than
preventable or treatable conditions. Second Sight's U.S. Headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, and European Headquarters
are in Lausanne, Switzerland. For more information, please visit www.secondsight.com.
About the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System
Second Sight's Argus II System provides electrical
stimulation that bypasses defunct retinal cells and stimulates remaining viable cells inducing visual perception in individuals
with severe to profound retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The Argus II works by converting images captured by a miniature video camera
mounted on the patient's glasses into a series of small electrical pulses, which are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes
implanted on the surface of the retina. These pulses stimulate the retina's remaining cells, intending to result in the perception
of patterns of light in the brain. The patient must learn to interpret these visual patterns, having the potential to regain some
visual function. The Argus II was the first artificial retina to receive widespread commercial approval, and is offered at approved
centers in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom,
and the United States. Further information on the long-term benefits and risks can be found in the peer reviewed paper at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161642016305796
About the Orion Visual Cortical Prosthesis
Like the Argus II, the Orion converts images captured
by a miniature video camera mounted on the patient's glasses into a series of small electrical pulses. The Orion is designed to
transmit these electrical pulses wirelessly to an array of electrodes implanted on the surface of the visual cortex, intended to
result in the perception of patterns of light. By bypassing the retina and optic nerve and directly stimulating the visual cortex,
a cortical prosthesis system has the potential to restore useful vision to many more patients than the Argus II, including patients
completely blinded due to many reasons, including glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, or forms of cancer and trauma. The Company has
initiated a feasibility study in the U.S. at two centers: the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine
in Houston. The first-in-human subject was implanted and activated as part of the first-in-human clinical studies with the Orion
in 2018. No clinical data is yet available for the Orion.
This press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the "safe harbor" created by
those sections. All statements in this release that are not based on historical fact are "forward looking
statements." These statements may be identified by words such as "estimates," "anticipates,"
"projects," "plans," or "planned," "seeks," "may," "will,"
"expects," "intends," "believes," "should," and similar expressions, or the negative
versions thereof, and which also may be identified by their context. All statements that address operating performance or
events or developments that Second Sight expects or anticipates will occur in the future, such as stated objectives or goals,
or that are not otherwise historical facts, are forward-looking statements. While management has based any forward-looking
statements included in this release on its current expectations, the information on which such expectations were based may
change. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements, as a result of various factors including those risks and
uncertainties described in the Risk Factors and in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations sections of our Annual Report, on Form 10-K, filed on March 20, 2018, and our other reports filed from time to
time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We urge you to consider those risks and uncertainties in evaluating our
forward-looking statements. We caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date made. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, we disclaim any obligation or
undertaking to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein (or elsewhere) to
reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto, or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which
any such statement is based.
Investor Relations Contacts:
Institutional Investors
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Lisa Wilson, President
Individual Investors
Greg Falesnik, Managing Director
Nobles Global Communications
Laura Nobles or Helen Shik