Former President and COO of Advanced Medical Optics Brings Significant Industry Background to STAAR's Board

MONROVIA, Calif., June 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STAAR Surgical Company (Nasdaq: STAA), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable lenses and related ophthalmic products, today announced the unanimous appointment of Richard (Randy) A. Meier (49), the former president and chief operating officer of Advanced Medical Optics (AMO), to the Company's board of directors. Mr. Meier's appointment expands the STAAR Surgical board to seven directors, five of whom are independent.

Mr. Meier was the former president and chief operating officer of AMO, a global leader in ophthalmic products including intraocular lenses (IOLs) and laser vision correction with revenues of approximately $1.2 billion in 2008. Mr. Meier served in that position until the company was acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories in February of 2009. Mr. Meier joined AMO in 2002 and subsequently held various executive positions at AMO, including Chief Financial Officer, executive vice president of operations and president of all three divisions: Refractive, Cataract and Eye Care.

"Randy Meier brings to our board significant ophthalmology business acumen and he will provide our Company with considerable financial, strategic and operational insights as we continue to pursue opportunities focused on profitable growth," said Don M. Bailey, chairman of the STAAR Surgical Board of Directors. "Beyond his experience in the ophthalmic industry, Randy has a strong working knowledge of international markets as well as the capital markets and a proven track record of improving shareholder value."

"During the past few years, I've observed STAAR Surgical's developments and believe the company has recently made strong progress," Mr. Meier said. "STAAR is a leader in the evolving refractive phakic lens market and has been consistently improving its operating performance in a very difficult economic environment. I believe the company is positioned to generate further progress and I look forward to assisting the Company's drive to sustainable profitable growth."

Prior to joining AMO, Mr. Meier was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (formerly ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). Before joining Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Meier was a senior vice president with the investment banking firm of Schroder & Co. Inc. in New York from 1996 until joining Valeant Pharmaceuticals in 1998. Prior to Mr. Meier's experience at Schroder & Co., he held various financial and banking positions at Salomon Smith Barney, Manufacturers Hanover Corporation, as well as other financial and management positions at other firms. Mr. Meier currently serves as a Director at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (Nasdaq: BMRN), a company which develops and commercializes innovative biopharmaceuticals for serious diseases and medical conditions. BioMarin had revenues of approximately $300 million in 2008. Mr. Meier is a graduate of Princeton University with a Major in Economics.

About STAAR Surgical

STAAR Surgical is a leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of minimally invasive ophthalmic products employing proprietary technologies. STAAR's products are used by ophthalmic surgeons and include the Visian ICL, a tiny, flexible lens implanted to correct refractive errors, as well as innovative products designed to improve patient outcomes for cataracts and glaucoma. Manufactured in Switzerland by STAAR, the ICL is approved by the FDA for use in treating myopia, has received CE Marking and is sold in more than 50 countries. Collamer(R) is the brand name for STAAR's proprietary collagen copolymer lens material. More information is available at www.staar.com.

Safe Harbor

All statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including statements about any of the following: financial items; the plans, strategies, and objectives of management for future operations or prospects for future success, statements of belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing.

These statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties include our limited capital resources and limited access to financing, the fact that our public accounting firm has expressed doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern in their opinion on our financial statements, the need to defend litigation and the risk of adverse judgment in pending litigation, the effect the global recession may have on sales of products, especially products such as the ICL used in non-reimbursed elective procedures, the challenge of managing our foreign subsidiaries, the risk that sales of our newly introduced products may not restore profitability to our U.S. IOL product line, our ability to resolve FDA concerns over the clinical study for the Toric ICL and to overcome negative publicity resulting from warning letters and other correspondence from the FDA Office of Compliance, the willingness of surgeons and patients to adopt a new product and procedure, and the potential effect of recent negative publicity about LASIK on the demand for refractive surgery in general in the U.S. STAAR assumes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect future events or actual outcomes and does not intend to do so.

    CONTACT:  Investors                      Media
              EVC Group                      EVC Group
              Douglas Sherk, 415-896-6820    Chris Gale 646-201-5431
              Mike Pollock 415-896-6820

SOURCE STAAR Surgical Company

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