Johnson & Johnson Vision – one of the industry’s biggest contact lens manufacturers – is launching ACUVUE Abiliti 1-Day, with one Australian optometrist describing it as a new best-in-category product that ticks some important boxes in myopia management.
The nation’s first optometrists to access a new myopia control soft contact lens from Johnson & Johnson Vision (J&J) can already see how it’s going to break through some of the barriers practitioners come up against when treating progressing myopes.
Inconsistent wear, handling and insertion issues, discomfort, upfront cost, and feeling held back by spectacles. These are just some of the issues that can stand in the way of children realising the full benefit of a myopia control intervention – even with many modalities now available.
And it’s important business, given myopia is a growing epidemic1 affecting children, with every additional diopter of progression increasing the risk of myopic macular degeneration by 67%.2
J&J’s R&D team – with many industry firsts in the contact lens space – has delivered again with ACUVUE Abiliti 1-Day, described as the first daily disposable silicone hydrogel lens designed specifically for slowing the progression of myopia in children.*3
Now registered with the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA), Australian optometrists with early access, such as Dr Margaret Lam, Dr Carina Trinh and Dr Jim Kokkinakis, believe it will address some of the limitations not only in contact lens-related myopia control, but in general management.
“The ACUVUE Abiliti 1-Day lens represents a significant advancement in myopia management,” says Dr Lam, head optometrist at 1001 Optometry Bondi.
“I have really appreciated it as a new best-in-category lens, offering a combination of efficacy, comfort, and convenience that aligns well with the needs of our younger patients and their families.”
J&J cites a survey showing more than 95% of children wearing the lens achieved 6/6 visual acuity or better.||4 Other benefits include its material platform that has reportedly never been beaten in ‘comfort’ in six clinical studies posted on ClinicalTrials.gov.‡4
That’s not to mention its convenience-factor – vital for compliance in myopia management – and new RingBoost technology with a specialised optical design.3
But efficacy is arguably the most important performance measure to optometrists. Abiliti 1-Day has been shown to slow axial elongation by 0.25 mm, on average over a two-year period,**5 with almost 65% showing no clinically meaningful myopia progression.
In the real-world, Dr Lam’s observations so far indicate patients using the lens “exhibit a much slower rate of progression of myopia compared to previous treatments”, with improved visual acuity and comfort.
“Some have even shown no progression at all in this time period in the last two years, which is quite impressive from their previous states of high rates of progression with various other means of myopia control,” she says.
Like Dr Lam, Dr Trinh’s initial experience with Abiliti 1-Day was for cases when existing treatments are unsuitable or ineffective.
She first came across Abiliti 1-Day in a 2021 webinar featuring Canadian optometrists. At the time in her Carina Eye Care practice, she had several challenging cases that had proven resistant to dual therapy (soft daily disposable contact lenses with 0.1% atropine eye drops).
“Now that the lens has received TGA approval, I suspect Abiliti 1-Day may prove even more effective for a broader patient base. I believe it presents an excellent first-line or second-line therapy option,” she says.
Her early experience – all highly challenging cases – has shown the lens performed well.
One notable case involves an 11-year-old experiencing axial elongation of approximately 0.25 mm every three months, despite being managed with 0.1% low-dose atropine and myopia control contact lenses. Further expert input was sought from Dr Langis Michaud in Montreal, who supported the recommendation to transition to Abiliti 1-Day lenses in combination with overspectacles to correct 0.75DC residual astigmatism. With this, the patient’s axial elongation significantly reduced to 0.02 mm over a six-month period.
Similarly, another 11-year-old was elongating 0.1 mm every three months with myopia management soft contact lenses and 0.1% atropine. Since transitioning to Abiliti 1-Day, his axial length has slowed to 0.02mm every three months.
Who stands to benefit?
Dr Trinh says Abiliti 1-Day is proving an especially good option for progressive myopes leading highly active lifestyles. Perhaps they’re seeking greater freedom from spectacles, or maybe they’re not well-suited to orthokeratology (orthok).
She comes across children who feel apprehensive about the initial discomfort with orthok, while others aren’t yet responsible enough to properly manage the care routine. Additionally, the upfront cost of orthok may not be feasible for all families.
“Abiliti 1-Day lenses are exceptionally comfortable, and children are often pleasantly surprised by how good they feel on their eyes. Many quickly become enthusiastic about the experience and are eager to transition to full-time wear,” she says.
“Parents appreciate the convenience of a daily disposable lens too, its high level of comfort, excellent oxygen permeability, built-in UV protection, and particularly its ease-of-handling, which helps children adapt more quickly.”
Additionally, they value the flexibility of a three- to six-month trial period, “knowing that treatment will be continuously monitored and adjusted as needed rather than committing to a long-term solution upfront”.
Dr Kokkinakis, who has been performing orthok for vision correction and subsequently myopia control since the mid-1990s, says this part of his work has reduced since Abiliti 1-Day came along.
This is because it’s capable of simultaneously treating myopia and correcting vision while being relatively simple for patients to take up. Plus, if a lens is lost or damaged, it’s easily replaced. It’s also less technically demanding for busy practitioners.
“Now, if I’m presented with a patient 16 years or less, and certainly younger, they’ll be offered Abiliti 1-Day. And if you can teach patients as young as six-years-old to put them in, without lumping the burden on the parent, I’d do it,” Dr Kokkinakis, from The Eye Practice in Sydney, says.
“Anecdotally, I think soft contact lenses are better for controlling myopia progression because kids stick them in first thing in the morning, and take them out last thing at night, therefore you’re controlling the situation better.”
Dr Kokkinakis believes previously one of the biggest issues in soft contact lens-based myopia control is that children have been fitted with lens designs more suited to an adult eye.
“It’s taken some years for J&J to enter the myopia management space, and the reason is they’ve gone back to square one and re-designed the whole platform to make sure they fit children,” he says.
He’s referring to the smaller lens diameter and steeper base curve in Abiliti 1-Day.
It’s something that stands out to Dr Trinh too. She says the way the lens retains its shape “makes insertion significantly easier”, allowing both new and existing wearers to adapt quickly and gain confidence in handling their lenses.
“Abiliti 1-Day is remarkably easy to fit and insert, with patients consistently finding the learning process smoother compared to many other contact lens options on the market,” she says.
Dr Lam says because the lenses are tailored “with paediatric anatomy in mind” children are often mastering insertion and removal within one session, especially with proper guidance and support.
In terms of its optical design, Dr Kokkinakis has been intrigued by Abiliti 1-Day’s “distinct and extreme blur zones” that he thought would defy the laws of optics, but offer an impressive level of vision quality in his patients.
Abiliti 1-Day also features a +10 D Central Boost zone that maximises the treatment strength, according to J&J. This is accompanied by a +7 D Ring Focus design allowing rays to focus off the line of sight, so the
lens can be built with a stronger treatment power while maintaining quality vision.
Dr Lam says this, known as J&J’s RingBoost technology, is providing “a high treatment power while maintaining clear vision”, while Dr Trinh appreciates the level of clinical confidence such a design offers.
But for all this technology to be effective, it requires consistency.
Dr Lam says a simplified regimen like daily disposables encourages consistent use, while comfort ensures it is worn for extended periods.
“The lenses are made from senofilcon A, the same material as ACUVUE OASYS 1-Day, known for its comfort and breathability. For a paediatric patient who we want potentially having a long lifetime of contact lens wear, having something we know meets the metabolic needs of the eye provides peace of mind,” she says.
“Feedback from patients is that [comfort] is better than their previous contact lens options. This is crucial for children, as discomfort can lead to non-compliance. Our patients have reported excellent comfort, leading to consistent wear and better myopia management outcomes.”
Beyond the convenience of daily disposables, this modality also offers more assurance around lens hygiene, especially compared with orthok, Dr Lam says.
Getting started
Dr Kokkinakis is now placing Abiliti 1-Day as his new go-to product – but says it will be vital parents are educated on costs, with it coming in at a higher price point for a myopia control soft contact lens.
“That message must be clear – because it’s a premium product. People don’t mind paying premium prices, as long as they can perceive premium advantages like those mentioned above,” he says.
For practitioners to start prescribing Abiliti 1-Day, they need to complete a CPD-Accredited accreditation program on the JNJVISIONPRO online leaning platform.
“Given the rising awareness of myopia’s long-term implications and the lens’s benefits, and given its ease compared to prescribing orthok,” Dr Lam says, “I anticipate a significant uptake among Australian practitioners committed to the best results possible for their paediatric patients for their eyecare.”
More reading
Myopia – will Australia sink or swim in surging global wave?
Playing it safe: integrating UV safety with myopia control
Survey exposes how little parents know about their child’s myopia
References and disclaimers
* Based on publicly available information as of December 3, 2021.
‡ ClinicalTrials.gov is a website maintained by the NIH. The 6 clinical studies evaluated subjective comfort as a primary or secondary endpoint for ACUVUE® OASYS 1-Day with HydraLuxe®
Technology Brand family contact lenses vs. competitors’ products. Review conducted as of April 30, 2025.
§ JJV Data on File 2021. Top 3 Box = Extremely Easy, Very Easy, Easy.
|| Measured using LogMAR visual acuity where 0.00 LogMAR is equivalent to 20/20 vision.
1.Morgan IG, French AN, Ashby RS, Guo X, Ding X, He M, Rose KA. The epidemics of myopia: Aetiology and prevention. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2018 Jan;62:134-149.
2. Bullimore MA, Brennan NA. Myopia-control: Why Each Diopter Matters. Optom Vis Sci 2019;96:463-5.
3. JJV Data on File 2021. Development of Optical Design of ACUVUE® Abiliti® 1-Day Soft Therapeutic Lenses for Myopia Management.
4. JJV Data on File 2021. Stand-Alone Performance Claims – ACUVUE® Abiliti® 1-Day Soft Therapeutic Lenses for Myopia Management.
5. JJV Data on file, 2021. Efficacy of ACUVUE® Abiliti® 1-Day Soft Therapeutic Lenses for Myopia Management: Comparative Claims vs. Single Vision and Dual Focus Lenses.
