TearLab and SCHOTT MINIFAB announce ’20 million’ manufacturing milestone

TearLab, together with SCHOTT MINIFAB are celebrating an important milestone with the delivery of the 20 millionth microfluidic eye test card from the production line in Melbourne, Australia. The milestone comes as a result of a 13-year contract manufacturing partnership between the two companies, beginning in 2007 with an ambitious microfluidic product development program.

“Delivery of 20 million TearLab Osmolarity Test Cards is an incredible achievement.” said TearLab CEO Seph Jensen.

“Over the past decade osmolarity testing has become consistently more broadly adopted and now plays a central role the overall management of Dry Eye Disease and has recently been identified as an essential test by ASCRS¹.   We are delighted that so many patients world-wide have benefited from the innovation of our TearLab Osmolarity Test Card.”

The TearLab Osmolarity System is a microfluidic point-of-care diagnostic device that detects the osmolarity of human tears for the diagnosis of Dry Eye Disease. Central to the system is the TearLab Osmolarity Test Card, designed and manufactured by SCHOTT MINIFAB. When combined with the TearLab Osmolarity System, it assists clinicians with rapid and accurate results and aids in the diagnosis of dry eye disease.

Delivering 20 million Osmolarity Test Cards required SCHOTT MINIFAB to continually adapt its manufacturing approach to TearLab’s evolving business needs. This involved maintaining security of supply during market fluctuations as well as the gradual strategic ramp up of volumes in line with clinician adoption.

The commercial success of the first-generation TearLab product and the strong partnership between TearLab and SCHOTT MINIFAB is the foundation upon which a second-generation product is now being developed.

“As a contract manufacturer, we understand that our success and that of our client are inextricably linked. Achieving that success requires structuring a manufacturing pathway that evolves in line with market opportunity throughout the product lifecycle.” Said Greg Wolters, CEO of SCHOTT MINIFAB.

“It’s great to see TearLab going from strength to strength despite the challenging economic conditions, and we’re proud of the role we’ve played in that success. We look forward to deepening our partnership with TearLab in the development of its next-generation Discovery^TM platform.”