Full Press Release Details
Sight Appoints John T. Blake Chief Financial Officer
CA - March 22, 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 John T. Blake has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, effective
immediately. Mr. Blake succeeds Thomas Miller, who has served as Chief Financial Officer since 2014. In June 2017, Mr. Miller
submitted his resignation to pursue other opportunities but agreed at our request to remain in the position until his successor
are delighted to welcome John to the Second Sight team. John's financial acumen, track record of results and broad life
sciences industry experience will support our efforts to grow Second Sight as we build on the momentum generated by the Argus
II Retinal Prosthesis System (Argus II) and as we advance the development of the Orion Cortical Visual Prosthesis
System (Orion)," said Will McGuire, Second Sight's President and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition,
John's strengths and capabilities are well-known to me since we worked together at Volcano. It will be a genuine pleasure
to work with him again."
Blake most recently served as Senior Vice President, Finance of aTyr Pharma, a publicly-traded biotechnology company he joined
in March 2015. Prior to aTyr, Mr. Blake was responsible for the global financial planning and analysis function at Volcano Corporation
(Volcano), a publicly-traded medical device company, where he successfully executed Volcano's rapid growth and expansion
as Director, Financial Planning and Analysis from March 2010 to March 2015 and as the SEC Reporting Manager from November 2008
through March 2010. Mr. Blake was also previously an auditor in public accounting and an analyst for BD Biosciences. His extensive
transactional experience spans multiple public offerings and mergers and acquisitions, including the $1.2 billion sale of Volcano
to Royal Philips, NV in February 2015. Mr. Blake is a Certified Public Accountant, holds a Bachelor of Business Administration
from National University and is a Beta Gamma Sigma scholar at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
In addition, Mr. Blake completed the High Potentials Leadership Program at Harvard Business School and Strategic Financial Leadership
Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
appointment is further evidence that the leadership team at Second Sight continues to gain the depth that is critical to achieving
the Company's business objectives and building the commercial efforts for the Argus II and Orion," said Gregg Williams,
Second Sight's Chairman.
am delighted to join Second Sight at this exciting time in its growth, build upon the commercial success to date of the Argus
II and advance the development of Orion. I look forward to working with Will and the entire Second Sight team to impact the lives
of patients, further accelerate our achievements and drive shareholder value," said John T. Blake, Chief Financial Officer.
sincerely thank Tom for all of his many contributions to Second Sight. He was an integral part of Second Sight's IPO process
and has been a valued member of our management team. We wish him continued best in his future endeavors," concluded McGuire.
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
Sylmar, California, and European Headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. For more information, please visit www.secondsight.com.
the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System
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
the Orion Visual Cortical Prosthesis System
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.
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.
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