Glaukos Expands to Huntsville with $82 Million Research and Manufacturing Campus

Tom Burns, CEO of cutting-edge eyecare technology company Glaukos of California, made a checklist before seeking a site to build a multimillion-dollar research, development and manufacturing facility.

It was a wish list he gave to his team that went on a nationwide search for the right location to build a vanguard institution, and he bought in sight unseen after their recommendation for a cutting-edge eyecare health operation.

“I gave the charge,’’ Burns told a champagne-toasting group gathered for a groundbreaking Thursday. “Find me a place that has a tremendous technological pedigree, a vibrant business community, a wealth of manpower and resources, and good people that we could work with.’’

Huntsville, and more precisely Cummings Research Park, about a mile and a half from biotechnology and genomic research leader HudsonAlpha Institute for Biology, became the destination.

“This is my first opportunity to visit Huntsville,’’ Burns said, “and I couldn’t be more happy and more confirmed in our choice.’’

The usual suspects, and a few new ones, showed up on a warm but pleasant Thursday afternoon to celebrate the groundbreaking for Glaukos’ $82 million investment that will bring 154 full-time jobs to the region by 2030.

Congressman Dale Strong stayed over an extra day after ringing in the new Madison Chamber of Commerce location earlier in the week for the affair. Fellow U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt was also among the celebrants.

Strong outlined how the city was operating out of its well-known wheelhouse.

“I want to start by welcoming the entire Glaukos team to Huntsville and choosing Research Park to make this their development and manufacturing campus right here in Cummings Research Park, the second largest research park in the United States,’’ Strong said.

“When most people think of Huntsville, they think of rockets, space and defense, and we’re proud of that. But we’re also celebrating today that this shows there’s a lot more to our story. In Huntsville, research science and medicine thrive.

“It’s a city where innovation of all kinds takes root. Glaukos could have built this facility anywhere, but they chose Huntsville. They chose this community, and that says something powerful about who we are and where we’re headed.’’

The facility will be built on 25 acres at the corner of Mark Smith Dr. and Explorer Blvd., at the north end of HudsonAlpha. The agreement includes an option for 15 additional acres for future expansion.

“If you’ve done any reading on us, we’re the first company that pioneered, developed, and created a whole new marketplace called MIGS, micro and basic micro invasive glaucoma surgery that liberates patients from having to use eye drops,’’ Burns said.

“We’re the first company to come up with long term sustained release drugs that are injected directly into the eye that last for up to three years so patients don’t have to worry about noncompliance and adherence to their medications.’’

He then jumped further into the science frontier.

“We’re looking at things like transdermal medications that go on the lid rather than eye drops, which may treat an extraordinary number of anterior segment ophthalmic diseases,’’ he said. “And we’re coming up with small molecules to treat retinal disease that may last – I don’t know if anyone here has a colleague or a sibling or a mother or father who has age related macular degeneration – but right now, you have to use these products every couple of months to be able to treat the disease.’’

Please go on.

“We’re looking at products that may last for several months to several years. So pretty extraordinary stuff. We’re at the front edge of most things we do. So far, I think we’ve been relatively successful. One area that we’re truly focused on is rare disease.’’

Ash Arellanes for years unknowingly had keratoconus, a progressive eye disease that causes the cornea to become thin and bulge into a cone shape. This distortion of the cornea leads to blurred and distorted vision. 

She gave a moving testimonial of how it took nine months after the birth of her first child to actually make out her daughter’s smile, and Glaukos’ technology provided that after she spent years wandering in a sight-deficient wilderness.

“I can walk beside my children and know the world around us,’’ she said. “I can watch flowers lift their heads towards the sun in the spring. I can watch horizons bleed into color and fade into night.

“I can see enough to carry my children forward, and I am thankful for the doctor who listened, for the science that answered, for Glaukos and their fearless commitment to go first, turning innovation into sight saving so people just like me can watch our children grow.’’

Glaukos is a worldwide pharmaceutical and medical technology leader in ophthalmology focused on developing and commercializing novel therapies for the treatment of glaucoma, corneal disorders and retinal diseases.

The company is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, Calif.

“Glaukos is not only a company making cutting edge therapies, they’re a partner,’’ Strong said. “They’re investing in people for a brighter future. We celebrate this next chapter in Huntsville’s growth as a hub for research, science, and medicine. On behalf of this community, thank you for choosing Huntsville, and we’re proud to have you here, and we look forward to building that future together.’’