Contact lens wearers interested in daily replacement at a budget-friendly price will soon have a new option, as Alcon has just added a toric lens to its Precision1 brand, the company announced today.

The new lens uses the same silicone hydrogel material (verofilcon A) as the Precision1 sphere and shares with that lens the ‘microthin’ (2-3µm) moisture layer that Alcon calls SmartSurface, designed to improve comfort and support a stable tear film to reduce visual fluctuation, according to company press materials. Precision1 for Astigmatism also uses the water gradient design Alcon popularized with Dailies Total1 product line and the Precision1 sphere. In the Precision1 line, lenses have a water content of 51% at the core and greater than 80% at the anterior surface, according to Alcon.

To reduce rotation, the lens will include prism ballast that stabilizes the lens at the 8 and 4 o’clock points to help reduce lower lid interaction; Alcon calls this Precision Balance 8/4. The company says this design feature allows the lens to settle on-eye in under a minute and within 3º of ideal orientation, resulting in a 99% first fit success rate. 

Precision1 for Astigmatism will be offered with sphere power from plano to -6D in quarter-diopter steps and cyl powers of -0.75D, -1.25D and -1.75D. Axes will be 90º and 180° ±20° in 10° steps.

A 90-pack of lenses lists for $58, meaning that annual cost to the patient will be about $470 under a daily replacement wear schedule.

More information is available here.