Date: Nov 09, 1998 Source: bizjournals (
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ORLANDO -- Orlando's Autonomous Technologies Corp. reached a major milestone this week.
After five years of research and development, the company's laser vision-correction system for treating mild-to-moderate nearsightedness received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Autonomous plans to offer the system, called LADARVision, on a per-procedure service fee basis.
In a separate matter, Autonomous posted a $4.6 million loss for the third quarter of 1998. That's even more red ink than the company's $2.7 million loss a year ago. Company executives attribute the latest loss to expenses associated with the company's new technology.
Meanwhile, Autonomous officials say the financial loss will not affect plans for the company to be acquired by Summit Technology Inc. of Waltham, Mass., for cash and stock valued at about
$86.6 million. The purchase is expected to close by early 1999, with Autonomous operating as a separate unit of Summit.
