Visioneering Technologies, Inc. announced that the first patient has completed the initial visit in its landmark international multi-center study to provide an additional measure of the effectiveness of its NaturalVue (etafilcon A) Multifocal 1-Day Contact Lenses (`NaturalVue MF') for myopia progression control. The study, referred to as `PROTECT' (PROgressive Myopia Treatment Evaluation for NaturalVue Multifocal Contact Lens Trial), is a multi-center, randomised, double-masked clinical trial with participating investigators in centers in Canada, the United States, and Hong Kong. The trial is designed to enroll 144 healthy nearsighted children (myopes) of 7 to 13 years of age whose current prescription is between -0.75D and -5.00D.

Participants will be randomly assigned to wear NaturalVue Sphere single vision contact lenses (the control lens) or NaturalVue Multifocal contact lenses (the test lens). Primary outcomes will be determined by the changes in refractive error progression and eye length over time, both important markers of myopia progression. One-year follow-up data has been shown to be a strong predictor of the overall outcomes in other myopia control studies.

VTI expects that the data will demonstrate the superiority of NaturalVue MF over the control in managing myopia progression, thus providing an important data point for practitioners and VTI's corporate partnering activities. One-year follow up data is expected to be released mid-2023, with longer-term data expected mid-2024 and mid-2025.