Second Sight Surpasses Major Milestone for Blind People with Retinitis Pigmentosa

Lausanne, Schweiz (ots) -

- 50th and 51st Patients Worldwide implanted with Argus® Retinal
Prosthesis
- Additional Procedures Planned across Europe and Elsewhere.

Prof. Stanislao Rizzo, vitreoretinal Surgeon and Director of U.O.
Chirurgia Oftalmica, AOUP, Pisa, Italy, marked an important milestone
last week when a patient blinded by Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) was
implanted with an Argus II Retinal Prosthesis (Argus II), becoming
the 50th patient in the world to be implanted with sight restoring
technology manufactured by Second Sight Medical Products Inc. The
next day his colleague Prof. Albert Augustin, Augenklinik Karlsruhe,
Germany, implanted the 51st device into a German patient.

"I am very proud to have been the surgeon that performed the
milestone 50th implant," said Prof. Rizzo, "Our patients are really
grateful for this groundbreaking therapy as this gives them back more
autonomy in their daily life".

RP is a rare, hereditary disease that causes a progressive
degeneration of the light-sensitive cells of the retina, leading to
significant visual impairment and ultimately blindness, which until
now was untreatable. Second Sight's Argus II System employs
electrical stimulation to bypass these defunct cells and stimulate
remaining viable retinal cells to induce visual perception in blind
individuals.

Prof. Rizzo added, "The results we have seen to date have gone way
beyond any expectation that I had. Patients that previously had
practically no residual vision, can now distinguish shapes, move
around and eat more independently. This has an enormous emotional and
functional impact on their quality of life. As well, the safety
profile has been very strong and none of my seven patients have
experienced a serious adverse event."

The 51st patient was implanted by Prof. Augustin who said, "This
is a great opportunity! For the first time in history we are re-
establishing visual function in these blind patients."

"The cooperation of hospitals all over Europe has been very
gratifying", said Gregoire Cosendai, PhD, Head of Europe for Second
Sight. "Leading ophthalmologists are now aware of the meaningful
benefit that Argus II offers their patients and are becoming
proactive in advancing the therapy in their clinic. We will soon see
additional procedures performed in other countries, both within and
outside Europe."

About the Second Sight Retinal Prosthesis System

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. 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 regaining some
visual function. Six of the first 50 patients were implanted with a
first generation Argus I system, that was attached to an electronic
implant inserted invasively in the skull behind the ear with a wire
connecting to the eye under the skin. The last 45 patients have
received the second generation Argus II system, which is much less
invasive and is implanted only in and around the eye. Second Sight
gained European approval (CE Mark) for the Argus II system in 2011 -
the first and only approval of a retinal prosthesis anywhere in the
world. In September 2012, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Ophthalmic Devices Advisory Panel unanimously voted 19-0 to recommend
FDA approval, which is now pending.

About Second Sight

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 RP. 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. For more information, go
to http://2-sight.eu/landing-spot-fifty-de

Contacts:
Second Sight Medical Products
Maura Arsiero, PhD
publicrelations@2-sight.com
Tel: +41 21 693 91 01
Mobile: +41 76 570 88 70