Second Sight to Convene First Ever Retinal Prosthesis Users Summit at Retina International World Congress / 12 Argus(R) II Users to Meet and Attend the Congress in Hamburg

Lausanne, Switzerland (ots) - Second Sight Medical Products, Inc.,
the world's only developer and manufacturer of an approved retinal
prosthesis for the blind, is hosting a summit for users of the Argus
II Retinal Prosthesis System to be held in conjunction with the
Retina International World Congress this weekend (July 13 - 15) in
Hamburg, Germany. Twelve (12) users will come together to see each
other for the first time, share their experiences, and provide
feedback on future product development for Second Sight. Users from
the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy are expected to
attend.

Additionally, the company is co-sponsoring a lunchtime symposium
on electronic retinal implants on Saturday, July 14. In this session,
Prof. Dr. med. Peter Walter (Universitäts-Augenklinik, RWTH Aachen,
Germany), one of three surgeons in Germany to have implanted Argus II
in patients to date, and Fatima Anaflous (Second Sight, Lausanne,
Switzerland) will present the latest information on Argus II,
Europe's only approved and commercially available retinal prosthesis.
Walter is excited about presenting long-term data from participants
in the company's clinical trials, which began in 2002 and include
patients that have used the implant for up to 8 years, and also the
results from commercial patients. "I started to work on retinal
implants more than fifteen years ago here in Germany because I knew
we could and we should help blind patients suffering from retinitis
pigmentosa (RP). Today with Argus II, we can finally offer a
treatment to patients backed by many years of safety and performance
data". Anaflous, a low vision therapist, will present three years of
patient experience with integrating the Argus II in their daily lives
and what it means for these individuals. Second Sight will also host
a booth in the exhibit hall to field enquiries from doctors and
prospective patients.

Argus II is Second Sight's less invasive second generation
implantable device intended to treat blind people suffering from
degenerative diseases of the outer retina such as RP. The system
works by converting video images captured by a miniature camera,
housed in the patient's glasses, into a series of small electrical
pulses that are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on
the surface of the retina (epi-retinal). These pulses are intended to
stimulate the retina's remaining cells resulting in the corresponding
perception of patterns of light in the brain. Patients then learn to
interpret these visual patterns thereby gaining some functional
vision. Argus II was tested in a single arm, controlled, prospective,
multicenter international clinical trial, the results of which were
published in the April edition of the prestigious journal,
Ophthalmology, and showed that "The Argus ll prosthesis system is
reliable over the long term and provided benefit to implanted
subjects during this period... This demonstrates the ability of this
retinal implant to provide meaningful visual perception and
usefulness to subjects blind as a result of end-stage outer retinal
degenerations."

Gregoire Cosendai, PhD, head of Second Sight's European
subsidiary, added "We warmly welcome the Argus ll users from across
Europe to Hamburg to share their experiences. We are looking forward
to learning more about what is important to them now and in the
future for retinal prosthetics".

Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., located in Los Angeles
California, was founded in 1998 to create a retinal prosthesis to
provide sight to patients blinded from outer retinal degenerations,
such as Retinitis Pigmentosa. Through dedication and innovation,
Second Sight's mission is to develop, manufacture and market
implantable visual prosthetics to enable blind individuals to achieve
greater independence. European Headquarters are in Lausanne,
Switzerland. Second Sight, Argus and the Second Sight logo are
registered trademarks of Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. Argus II
is not approved for commercial use in the United States; it is being
used in clinical trials under an FDA-approved Investigational Device
Exemption (IDE).

For more information please contact:

Maura Arsiero (+41 21 693 91 01)
patients@2-sight.com
publicrelations@2-sight.com