Interest in longevity and anti-aging is gathering momentum, and Pfizer has dipped its toe in the water with an early-stage drug discovery partnership.

VCs have funded at least a dozen start-ups working in presbyopia, including C&C Vision, whose founder Stuart Cumming has been quietly working on an accomodating intraocular lens for more than ten years. With the FDA's Ophthalmic Devices Panel unanimously recommending premarket approval of C&C Vision's CrystaLens accommodating intraocular lens for cataract patients, his firm is very close to being able to reap a first-mover advantage in this new market.

Quest Vision has developed an intraocular lens that accommodates the way the natural lens does, that is, it changes shape for near or distance vision. Originally designed for cataract patients, the lens will also serve 89 million older Americans suffering from presbyopia.