Today’s announcement by Johnson & Johnson Vision that its first product for myopia management is an ortho-K lens brings renewed attention—and the only on-label indication—to this longstanding modality. The company says its Acuvue Abiliti Overnight contact lenses have been shown to reduce axial elongation in myopic children by 0.28mm on average over a two-year period.

The lens will be available in spherical and toric options. Practitioners will use custom software that draws on corneal topography, refractive error and other data to create a lens fit that temporarily reshapes the cornea during overnight wear, a press release explains. 

Details of the lens design are not yet available, but studies cited in the press release reference clinical trials conducted using the Menicon Z Night ortho-K lens. The company previously announced a collaboration with Menicon and says this new lens is part of that effort.

J&J also promised “additional products and services to address the progression of myopia” down the road.

The lens will be available by the end of the year, according to J&J. More information on the company's efforts in myopia control is available at www.seeyourabiliti.com.