New York-based company acquires area manufacturer

Hydrogel Vision products are sold in 25 countries under the Extreme H2O brand or under a private label arrangement.

By Business Observer Staff
| 2:15 p.m. August 15, 2019
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Courtesy. Michelle Perkins and Tung Nguyen in front of the dry molding machine used in the start of production of contact lenses. They oversee the Sarasota manufacturing and operations of Extreme H2O contact lenses.

Manatee-Sarasota

SARASOTA — Rochester, N.Y.-based Clerio Vision Inc. has purchased Sarasota-based contact lens manufacturer Hydrogel Vision Corp.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Hydrogel Vision was founded in 2002. It is best known for the Extreme H2O product line and offerings that personalize contact lens wearing, according to a press release. The company offers lenses in multiple sizes. Its contacts are made from a proprietary ultra-hydrating material.

Hydrogel Vision products are sold in 25 countries under the Extreme H2O brand or under one of several private label arrangements.

A release says all Hydrogel Vision employees will be retained. Its manufacturing and fulfillment activities will continue at its locations in Sarasota.

“As Clerio began preparations for its first contact lens offering, we quickly identified HVC as a best-in-class manufacturing partner,” says Clerio Vision Co-CEO Alex Zapesochny in a statement. “We are thrilled to have now fully joined forces with HVC and to further build on its history of offering innovative products of the highest quality.”

Clerio Vision is developing products for the global ophthalmic market based on technology licensed from the University of Rochester. The company’s contact lens and refractive surgery products are in clinical development. It has raised approximately $30 million in financing from Safar Partners, Stonehenge Growth Equity, Armory Square Ventures, angel investors and the National Science Foundation.