FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. Patent Office Grants Patent For Spherical Astigmatism Contact Lens Design

SARASOTA, Florida – November 30, 1999 -- Danker Laboratories, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Patent Office has granted patent No. 5,971,541 entitled "Correction of Astigmatism Using Rotationally Symmetric Contact Lenses."

“This patent covers a major development in the correction of astigmatism,” said company founder Frederick J. Danker, who shares co-inventor credit with optical physicist Warren Blaker. "The patent describes a rotationally symmetric lens design that provides the optical performance of traditional toric geometry, yet can be fit and dispensed with the ease of a spherical hydrogel or RGP contact lens. Alignment is both critical and troublesome with many toric lens designs, and this new design solves the alignment problem because the design is spherical. The base curve geometry eliminates dependence on axis or prism ballast and can rotate freely without affecting visual acuity.”

Based on this new technology, Danker Laboratories has developed a proprietary software program that uses corneal physiology, lens geometry and fluid dynamics to design spherical lenses that correct astigmatism. The only input required is patient spectacle refraction and K readings, and no fitting set is required.

“Danker Labs is preparing both hydrogel and RGP product lines using this unique design," said Kevin L. Hing, Executive Vice President of Operations. “Our trials are still pending, but we anticipate that the effective range of this design will exceed 4.0 diopters of corneal astigmatism.”

Contact:

Kevin L. Hing, Esq.

Executive Vice President, Operations

(877) 765-1773 phone

(800) 665-5086 fax

kevinhing@dankerlabs.com

About Danker Laboratories, Inc.: Headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, Danker Laboratories, Inc. has been a prominent manufacturer of rigid gas permeable contact lenses, contact lens solutions and precision ophthalmic surgical and diagnostic devices since 1948. For more information on Danker Laboratories’s products call (800) 237-9641, FAX (800) 665-5086, or visit www.dankerlabs.com.

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