AquaLens is a contact lens brand that most patients in North America or Europe have not heard of. And there is a reason for that: With the recent acquisition of AquaLens by Lenskart in 2019 and their onboarding of a former Bausch & Lomb executive, Lenskart wants to be a major contact lens manufacturer in South Asia, or - to be more precise - in India. A team of 2700 people and 450+ stores across India give Lenskart a significant footprint in the fast-growing eyewear business in India.
AquaLens was launched in 2018 as Lenskart's third vertical and private label brand (the other two are John Jacobs and Vincent Chase - two premium brands for eyeglasses and sunglasses). Offering their own private label contact lens brand means that Lenskart is competing directly with the 'Big 4' - Johnson & Johnson Vision, Alcon, Bausch & Lomb, and CooperVision.
AquaLens Product Portfolio
To be a serious competitor in the highly competitive contact lens world, a brand must be able to offer a portfolio of products suitable for all types of vision correction, modalities, prescription parameters, and replacement schedules. The products should cover patients with myopia/hyperopia, presbyopia, and astigmatism and be available as monthly or daily replaceable lenses, with the latter one being the main focus. And with the current AquaLens portfolio, an experienced executive to head up the contact lens vertical, plus a $10 Mio investment, Lenskart is off to a good start.
The current AquaLens portfolio includes:
| Name: 1-Day AquaLens Refresh Vision Correction: Myopia / Hyperopia Replacement: Daily Modality: Daily wear Material: Silicone Hydrogel (Somofilcon A) Diameter: 14.1 mm BC: 8.6 mm Water content: 54% UV blocking: Yes |
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Name: AquaLens 10H Vision Correction: Myopia / Hyperopia Replacement: Monthly Modality: Daily wear Material: Etafilcon A Diameter: 8.5 mm BC: 14.2 mm Water content: 42% UV blocking: Yes |
| Name: AquaLens Aspheric Vision Correction: Myopia / Hyperopia Replacement: Monthly Modality: Daily wear Material: Ionic Hydrogel (Methafilcon A) Diameter: 14.4 mm BC: 8.7 mm Water content: 55% UV blocking: No |
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Name: AquaLens Refresh for Astigmatism Vision Correction: Astigmatism Replacement: Monthly Modality: Daily wear Material: Silicone Hydrogel (Somofilcon A) Diameter: 14.4 mm BC: 8.7 mm Water content: 54% UV blocking: Yes |
| Name: AquaLens Refresh for Presbyopia Vision Correction: Astigmatism Replacement: Monthly Modality: Daily wear Material: Silicone Hydrogel (Somofilcon A) Diameter: 14.4 mm BC: 8.7 mm Water content: 54% UV blocking: Yes |
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In researching the various Aqualens products, we couldn't figure out what the core branding looks like and what the exact technical parameters are (e.g. there were no specs an aqualens.in and no presbyopic or toric lenses at all). We found packaging examples on other sites in various languages and the packaging on aqualens.in and lenskart.in is different (see additional picture). Hopefully, Lenskart will introduce a portfolio wide branding strategy with detailed spec sheets that also include the oxygen transmission values, center thickness, prescription ranges and other technical details. We certainly would love to confirm the portfolio above.
How does AquaLens compare to Acuvue, Bausch and Lomb, Alcon and CooperVision products?
At this point, the portfolio is not as extensive as the portfolios from the big brands and AquaLens is largely focused on the mainstream markets. Hence you won't find daily silicone or non-silicone lenses for presbyopia or astigmatism. Last but not least, there is also a beauty-enhancing lens available called Aquacolor which is available in up to 15 different colors. So, overall the offering is pretty good already, and patients in India can be excited about what Lenskart will do with the AquaLens brand. We will certainly keep an eye on Lenskart and update this portfolio once additional lens parameters and product information are available.