Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., located in Sylmar, California, is a privately held company founded in 1998 by Mr. Alfred Mann, Dr. Sam Williams and Gunnar Bjorg with the goal of creating a retinal prosthesis to provide sight to subjects blinded from outer retinal degenerations, such as retinitis pigmentosa. Second Sight currently employs over 85 employees and has a European office in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The first clinical trial (Argus I) began in 2002 (6 subjects in total). With the experience gained from the Argus I trial, and further technological developments, a second generation device was created – the Argus II. For this device, a two-patient pilot study was initiated in Mexico in 2006, followed by a 30-patient trial in 10 centres across Europe and the United States.
