RxSight Inc. (RXST) is pivoting its growth strategy around its Light Adjustable Lens (LAL) platform, aiming to deepen utilization among its existing surgeon base rather than chase new accounts, CEO Aziz Mottiwala said at the Wells Fargo 21st Annual Healthcare Conference on Wednesday.
Mottiwala, who joined the role roughly six weeks before the Sept. 9 event, said the company plans to double its U.S. sales force by reallocating internal resources rather than significantly expanding operating expenses. Territories will be narrowed so representatives can visit accounts more frequently.
"We need to really position LAL as its own segment," Mottiwala said. "The next IOL by any company is marginally better than the prior, and nothing that is being launched today can even touch the outcomes and tailorability that adjustable lenses have."
The company is developing a next-generation LAL designed to expand the addressable patient population and reduce follow-up visits, according to Mottiwala.
In July, RxSight struck a licensing deal with Alcon that includes a $200 million upfront payment—$60 million of which had been received by the end of the quarter—and a 30% royalty on future presbyopic and presbyopic-correcting IOL sales. Alcon controls over 50% of the presbyopic and PC-IOL market, giving RxSight access to a broad distribution network.
"If you look at comps, I think what this tells you is the comps of the royalty and the upfronts are profound. They're probably almost 2x average med-tech comps for these types of licensing deals," Mottiwala said.
As of the conference, RxSight's stock was trading at $6.58, valuing the company at roughly $274 million. Shares have fallen 38% year to date and are about 50% below their 52-week high of $13.22. Revenue for the last twelve months came in at $127.6 million, down 13% year over year. Cash on hand totaled $210 million, though the figure does not yet reflect the full benefit of the Alcon transaction.
Gross margins sit in the mid-70% range, which Mottiwala called "extraordinary" for the medical-device sector. The company estimates that a cost differential of $500 to $1,000 per eye remains a perception hurdle in the marketplace, even as clinical outcomes differentiate the LAL.
"When we talk to customers and clinicians that are using our Light Adjustable Lens technology, what we hear pretty clearly, almost every single physician I talk to talks about the outcomes, and the fact that this device, this lens, gets outcomes that they cannot get anywhere else," Mottiwala said.
International expansion has been deprioritized until the U.S. business stabilizes. Management declined to issue explicit 2027 guidance, saying formal figures and a return-to-growth outlook will be provided on the fourth-quarter earnings call in early 2027.
The company currently has an installed surgeon base of roughly 3,000.
