COO The
Listed Cooper
NYSE Companies
NEWS RELEASE
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CONTACT:
Norris Battin
The Cooper Companies, Inc.
ir@coopercompanies.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COOPER COMPANIES' UNIT CLEARED TO MARKET DISPOSABLE CONTACT LENSES IN JAPAN
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LAKE FOREST, Calif., October 2, 2002 -- The Cooper Companies, Inc., (NYSE:COO)
said today that CooperVision, Inc. (CVI), its contact lens business, has been
notified by its marketing partner in Japan, Rohto Pharmaceutical Company, Inc.,
that the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare has cleared Rohto to market
CVI's disposable spherical, aspheric and toric contact lenses made from the
methafilcon A polymer.
Rohto will market CVI's lenses in Japan under the Rohto i.Q brand name. CVI
plans to ship lenses to Rohto during Cooper's first fiscal quarter, which ends
on January 31, 2003, and Rohto expects to begin selling CVI lenses shortly after
that. CVI will receive manufacturing profit from the products it sells to Rohto.
Rohto currently markets CVI's spherical and toric contact lenses that wearers
replace quarterly or yearly. Because they are easier to care for, planned
replacement and disposable contact lenses that are changed every day, every two
weeks or monthly, have become the most popular products worldwide. In Japan,
daily disposable lenses and two-week lenses are the most common modalities.
With approximately 10 million contact lens wearers, Japan is the second largest
contact lens market in the world after the United States, and soft lenses
continue to grow in popularity. CVI estimates that the total market for soft
contact lenses in Japan today is about $650 million, about the size of the total
European market, compared with about $1.2 billion in the United States. The
Japanese market is currently divided equally between daily and two-week
disposable lenses and is currently growing at about 9% per year compared with
about 3% in the United States and 7% in Europe.
The incidence of myopia (near-sightedness) and astigmatism (an irregularly
shaped cornea that can cause blurred vision) in Japan is the highest in the
world. About 75% of the myopic population also requires an astigmatic
correction, compared with about 50% in the United States. Those with higher
levels of astigmatism, about half the astigmatic population, are potential
candidates for toric lenses.
The market in Japan for toric lenses, CVI's most important product line, is
proportionately smaller than in the United States, but is expected to grow
rapidly as newer generations of toric lenses are introduced. CVI is the world's
largest manufacturer of soft toric contact lenses.
Rohto Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of contact lens
care products, holding, according to their estimates, a 40% share of the market
for non-pharmaceutical ophthalmic products in Japan. Rohto's total revenue
approaches $600 million, most originating in Pacific Rim countries.
Non-prescription ophthalmic products account for about one-third of its
worldwide revenue. Rohto plans to capitalize on their well-established eyecare
and contact lens care brands and use a combination of professional and consumer
promotion to introduce CVI's new contact lens products.
Rohto's shares are publicly traded in Japan. It has major manufacturing
facilities in Japan, the United States and other facilities in over 20
countries. Rhoto's World Wide Web address is www.rohto.co.jp.
Forward Looking Statements
Some of the information included in this news release contains "forward-looking
statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include all statements regarding anticipated growth
in our revenue, anticipated market conditions and results of operations. To
identify forward-looking statements look for words like "believes," "expects,"
"may," "will," "should," "seeks," "intends," "plans," "estimates" or
"anticipates" and similar words or phrases. Discussions of strategy, plans or
intentions often contain forward-looking statements. These, and all
forward-looking statements, necessarily depend on assumptions, data or methods
that may be incorrect or imprecise.
Events, among others, that could cause actual results and future actions to
differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements include
major changes in business conditions, a major disruption in the operations of
our manufacturing facilities, new competitors or technologies, the impact of an
undetected virus on our computer systems, acquisition integration delays or
costs, increases in interest rates, foreign currency exchange exposure,
investments in research and development and other start-up projects, dilution to
earnings per share from acquisitions or issuing stock, regulatory issues,
changes in tax laws, significant environmental cleanup costs above those already
accrued, litigation costs including any related settlements, cost of business
divestitures, the requirement to provide for a significant liability or to write
off a significant asset, changes in accounting principles or estimates, and
other factors described in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings,
including the "Business" section in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended October 31, 2001. We caution investors that forward-looking statements
reflect our analysis only on their stated date. We disclaim any intent to update
them except as required by law.
About Cooper
The Cooper Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market
specialty healthcare products. Corporate offices are in Lake Forest and
Pleasanton, Calif. A toll free interactive telephone system at 1-800-334-1986
provides stock quotes, recent press releases and financial data. Cooper's World
Wide Web address is www.coopercos.com.
CooperVision, Inc., markets a broad range of contact lenses for the vision care
market. Headquartered in Lake Forest, Calif., it manufactures in Huntington
Beach, Calif., Rochester, N.Y., Norfolk, Va., Adelaide, Australia, Farnborough
and Hamble, England, Madrid, Spain and Toronto. Its Web address is
www.coopervision.com.
CooperSurgical, Inc., with operations in Trumbull, Conn., Fort Atkinson, Wis.,
Malmo, Sweden, Montreal and Berlin, markets medical devices, diagnostic
products, surgical instruments and accessories for the women's healthcare
market. Its World Wide Web address is www.coopersurgical.com.
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