Keravision Inc/DE – ‘8-K’ for 4/19/99 – EX-99.17

As of:  Monday, 4/19/99   ·   For:  4/19/99   ·   Accession #:  946154-99-8   ·   File #:  0-26316

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Current Report   —   Form 8-K
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Document/Exhibit                   Description                      Pages   Size 

 1: 8-K         Current Report                                         3     13K 
 2: EX-99.16    News Release Dated 4/12/99                             3±    14K 
 3: EX-99.17    News Release Dated 4/12/99                             3±    13K 
 4: EX-99.18    News Release Dated 4/12/99                             3±    13K 
 5: EX-99.19    News Release Dated 4/14/99                             2±    12K 
 6: EX-99.20    News Release Dated 4/15/99                             3±    13K 
 7: EX-99.21    News Release Dated 4/15/99                             2±    12K 

EX-99.17   —   News Release Dated 4/12/99

EX-99.17
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                                                               Exhibit 99.17

KeraVision and ARIS Sign Agreement to Offer Intacs (trademark) In Four Markets  

Non-laser option for treating myopia approved April 9 by FDA                    

Fremont, CA (April 12, 1999) -- KeraVision, Inc. (Nasdaq: KERA), the            
vision correction company, and ARIS Vision, Inc., a privately-held              
refractive surgery management company, have signed an agreement to make         
KeraVision's initial product, Intacs, available to ARIS's 12 vision             
correction surgery centers in metropolitan Boston, Northern and                 
Southern California, and Salt Lake City.                                        

KeraVision's application to sell Intacs, a non-laser surgical option            
for people with nearsightedness (myopia), was approved April 9 by the           
Food and Drug Administration. Intacs are the first approved non-laser           
surgical product in the U.S. designed especially for mild myopia, which         
affects an estimated 20 million adult Americans.  KeraVision's product          
also is removable -- another first for the vision correction surgery            
market.                                                                         

ARIS National Medical Director Kerry K. Assil, MD, said, "In clinical           
studies, Intacs provided a high level of vision with minimal                    
discomfort, rapid recovery and, most unique -- the ability to be                
removed if a patient's vision needs change with age.  Removability is a         
peace-of-mind benefit that only Intacs can offer."                              

Assil added, "The ratio of Intacs patients who can expect to achieve            
not only 20/20 vision but 20/16 and even 20/12.5 will, we believe,              
create excitement in the marketplace for vision correction surgery as           
an attractive option to eyeglasses and contacts."                               

KeraVision Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas M. Loarie said,          
"This agreement with ARIS gives Intacs a presence in four important             
markets where we will be represented by high-volume, well-known                 
surgeons.  A number of these surgeons have played leading roles in              
developing Intacs, so it is gratifying that they are among the first to         
bring this pioneering technology to their patients."                            

Assil is one of three ARIS surgeons who figured prominently in the              
Intacs clinical studies.  Assil, who also serves as medical director of         
Sinskey Eye Institute in Santa Monica, CA, is an Intacs clinical                
investigator and a member of KeraVision's surgeon training faculty.             

David S. Schanzlin, MD, who has served as Intacs chief investigator             
since 1986, is professor of ophthalmology and director of                       
keratorefractive surgery at Shiley Eye Center at the University of              
California at San Diego, an ARIS site.  Schanzlin is also a member of           
KeraVision's surgeon training faculty.                                          

Joseph Fleming, MD, medical director of ARIS Vision Institute in                
Glendale, CA, has been involved in developing the Intacs technology             
since the early 1980s when he worked alongside the inventor, the late           
Gene Reynolds, OD.  Over the years he has made numerous contributions,          
most recently as an Intacs trainer for international surgeons.                  

The three surgeons will lead the Intacs training for ARIS's vision              
correction surgeons.                                                            

In clinical studies, 53 percent saw better than 20/20                           

In the U.S. clinical trials, more than half of the nearsighted patients         
saw better than 20/20 after the Intacs treatment and nearly three out           
of four saw at least 20/20.                                                     

Unlike laser procedures, Intacs are designed to reshape corneal                 
curvature and correct myopia without cutting or removing tissue from            
the optical zone, the dome-shaped "window" at the front of the eye.             
Because Intacs are designed to work by adding material to the cornea            
instead of cutting or removing corneal tissue, Intacs are removable --          
a first in the vision correction surgery field.                                 

ARIS Vision, Inc., founded in 1996, provides patients with solutions to         
vision problems using state-of-the-art procedures and minimally                 
invasive refractive surgery.  ARIS has united a team of leading                 
physicians who are able to provide patients with low risk, high benefit         
procedures for vision problems that include nearsightedness,                    
farsightedness and astigmatism.  The company's current operations are           
located in California, Massachusetts, Utah, Mexico and Japan.                   

KeraVision, founded in 1986, is creating a new category of non-laser            
vision correction products that are designed especially for mild myopia         
(nearsightedness) and potentially for mild hyperopia (farsightedness).          
These products offer alternatives to eyeglasses, contact lenses and             
vision correction surgeries that permanently alter the eye's central            
optical zone.  The initial product is KeraVision Intacs for myopia,             
developed from a technology platform that the company believes will             
potentially treat the most common forms of vision problems.                     

Except for the historical information, the matters discussed in this            
news release are forward-looking statements.  Actual results may differ         
materially due to a variety of factors, including significant                   
unforeseen delays in the regulatory approval process, market acceptance         
of KeraVision Intacs, changes in regulatory review guidelines,                  
procedures, regulations or administrative interpretations,                      
complications relating to KeraVision Intacs or the surgical procedure,          
competitive products and technology, and other risk factors described           
under the heading "Risk Factors Affecting the Company, Its Business and         
Its Stock Price" set forth in the company's Form 10-K for the year              
ended December 31, 1998, as well as in other SEC filings.                       

For further information:                                                        
Investors:  Mark Fischer-Colbrie (510) 353-3000                                 
Media:  Mick Taylor (510) 353-3075                                              

KeraVision, Inc.                                                                
48630 Milmont Drive                                                             
Fremont, CA  94538-7353                                                         
Fax: (510) 353-3030                                                             

www.keravision.com                                                              
"Fax on Demand"                                                                 
(800) 448-8559                                                                  
Intacs are a registered                                                         
trademark or trademark                                                          
of KeraVision, Inc.                                                             

Dates Referenced Herein   and   Documents Incorporated by Reference

This ‘8-K’ Filing		Date		Other Filings
Filed on / For Period End:		4/19/99
		4/12/99
		12/31/98		10-K,  10-K/A
				List all Filings