STAAR Surgical’s (Nasdaq: STAA) commercial launch is underway! Its EVO ICL implantable lens has been approved by the FDA, and it’s stirring up a marketing campaign to increase interest in the highly-lucrative American market.

Its initial marketing campaign with Joe Jonas of the Jonas brothers has launched. It also reportedly has “a celebrity chef” and “an NBA player” as potential other influencers who may soon appear in future campaigns.

By the numbers, STAAR’s second quarter results looked great: Q2 revenues were up 35% globally and unit volumes were up 42%. The company’s seeing really solid growth internationally, with China growing 45% year-over-year and India growing 181%. That outsized growth comes as the result of reaping rewards from years’ past; Visian was actually approved back in 2013 and STAAR began setting up distributors as early as 2016.

STAAR just sold its 2 millionth ICL lens back in June. The company was founded in 1982, so it took 37 years (2019) for it to sell its first million lenses, and only 3 years after that to sell its second million. This suggests that we’re reaching an inflection point, where previous research and operational work is paying off as it reaches new markets.

I’ve updated my estimates, forecasting $2,000 per patient in the US for procedures (that’s the price STAAR sells to the ophthalmologist; the final cost to the patient could be 3-4x this amount). Assuming 75,000 procedures per year — which would be 10% of America’s current refractive surgery market — the US market could provide $150 million in revenue. STAAR reported $260 million in total revenue during the past 12 months. So my estimates are that the US market/product will be worth at least a 50% boost to the top line.

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