Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Innovation Foundation

What Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Innovation Foundation does

The Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Innovation Foundation (CCOI) is a Virginia-based nonprofit founded in 2020 that operates as a neutral convening body across the ophthalmic medical product innovation ecosystem. It brings together 80+ stakeholders - regulators (including FDA/CDRH leadership and the National Eye Institute), clinicians and academic medical centers, industry partners (EssilorLuxottica, Topcon Healthcare, Heidelberg Engineering, Digital Diagnostics, Genentech, Bausch + Lomb, Regeneron, Alcon, Zeiss, Verana Health), payors, foundations, and patient advocates - through 17 working groups spanning disease areas (AMD, glaucoma, myopia, diabetic retinal disease, ocular oncology, pediatrics, cornea/cataract) and cross-cutting topics (Foundational Principles of Artificial Intelligence, Interoperability, Oculomics, Clinical Trials, Education, Robotics, PII/PHI). The organization was originally founded as the Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Imaging and rebranded in 2024 to broaden its scope to ophthalmic innovation as a whole. CCOI's outputs are standards, consensus frameworks, peer-reviewed publications, and convening events rather than commercial products.

Revenue is generated through a mix of event registration fees (ranging from $0 for certain workshops and symposia up to $200 for in-person attendance at the Stanford Ophthalmic Innovation Symposium), tiered membership dues (including a top-level "Vision Architect" tier occupied by EssilorLuxottica as of November 2025), and event sponsorship (e.g., Gold-level Topcon Healthcare, Silver-level Digital Diagnostics and Verana Health). CCOI is membership-based and governed by an independent Board of Directors and Executive Committee, with no parent company and no disclosed private equity backing. Operating geographies span North America, Asia-Pacific (Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong, India), Europe (Germany), and South America (Brazil). Leadership combines former FDA regulatory authority (CEO Malvina Eydelman, formerly Director of FDA's Office of Health Technology 1), clinical-ophthalmology thought leaders (President Natalie Afshari, Past President Joel S. Schuman, Founding President Mark Blumenkranz), and AI/health-tech founders (Treasurer Michael Abramoff of Digital Diagnostics), supporting CCOI's positioning as the principal neutral forum for ophthalmic regulatory science, endpoints consensus, and AI standards development.

Name

Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Innovation Foundation

Legal name

Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Innovation Foundation

Website

https://cc-oi.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Innovation Foundation is a 2020-founded nonprofit that convenes 80+ stakeholders across regulators, clinicians, researchers, industry, and patient advocates through 17 working groups to build consensus on clinical endpoints, regulatory frameworks, AI standards, and interoperability in ophthalmic medical product innovation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Professional Associations and Healthcare Standards

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Other Similar Organizations (except Business, Professional, Labor, and Political Organizations) (81399)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Global Health Research, Evidence & Technical Assistance Organizations (HLAJAKAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Health, Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Regulatory Cooperation (BPADANAJ)

Keywords

• Ophthalmic innovation collaboration
• Regulatory science standards
• Clinical trial consensus
• Ophthalmic medical devices
• Eye care convening

Headquarters

HQ city

Reston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Pricing tiers

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Innovation Foundation is a US-based non-profit that convenes regulators, clinicians, academic researchers, patients, payors, and industry to drive ophthalmic innovation. It operates 17 working groups engaging more than 80 stakeholders and delivers themed workshops, symposia, and virtual meetings focused on topics such as glaucoma endpoints, pediatric intraocular lenses, myopia, AI in eye care, and curing vision loss from diabetes. Its outputs are consensus-driven recommendations and convening services rather than commercial products.

Product overview

The Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Innovation (CCOI) is a non-profit collaborative community organization, not a traditional product company. It serves as a global catalyst uniting patients, clinicians, researchers, regulators, and industry stakeholders to accelerate ophthalmic medical product innovation. CCOI operates through 17+ work groups covering disease areas (glaucoma, AMD, myopia, diabetic retinal disease, ocular oncology, pediatrics, cornea/cataract), cross-cutting topics (artificial intelligence, interoperability, clinical trials, education), and hosts annual virtual conferences, workshops, regional innovation forums, and video series to build consensus on clinical endpoints and regulatory frameworks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CCOI Working Groups Program A structured program of 17 topic-focused working groups that convene regulators, clinicians, academics, patients, payors, and industry to develop consensus outputs on ophthalmic innovation, intended for member organizations and individual stakeholders across the eye-care value chain.
• Annual Fall Symposium on Curing Vision Loss from Diabetes A recurring annual symposium focused on curing vision loss from diabetes, convening the ophthalmic innovation community around a disease-specific theme.
• Ophthalmic Innovation Symposium at Stanford A symposium held at Stanford that gathers the ophthalmic innovation community around emerging innovation topics, leveraging an academic host venue.
• Themed Ophthalmology Workshops Focused workshops on specific ophthalmic innovation topics (including glaucoma endpoints, pediatric intraocular lenses, and myopia) designed to drive consensus among clinicians, regulators, researchers, and industry.
• Annual Virtual Meeting An annual virtual meeting that enables distributed participation of the foundation's stakeholder community in ophthalmic innovation discussions.
• Asia-Pacific Innovation Forum A regionally focused forum that extends the foundation's ophthalmic innovation convening activity to the Asia-Pacific market.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Heidelberg EngineeringcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2025Heidelberg Engineering joined CCOI through EssilorLuxottica's Vision Architect membership. The company participates in AMD and glaucoma workstreams, contributing expertise in multimodal OCT/SLO imaging platforms and data standards. Heidelberg Engineering brings experience with longitudinal datasets and imaging technologies to help define patient-centered endpoints and validate clinical measures.
• EssilorLuxotticaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 November 2025EssilorLuxottica joined CCOI as a top-level Vision Architect member, the highest level of industry participation. As a member, the company contributes to workstreams on myopia, oculomics, AI, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration, leveraging expertise in optical engineering, digital health, and imaging. This reflects the company's strategy to drive evidence-based innovation while supporting the broader evolution of ophthalmic care worldwide.
• Mary Tyler Moore Vision InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2025The Annual Fall Symposium on Curing Vision Loss from Diabetes is hosted collaboratively with the Elizabeth Caswell Diabetes Institute and the Kellogg Eye Center at the University of Michigan. This scientific symposium brings together researchers, clinicians, industry representatives, government regulatory agencies, and patients to advance research to conquer vision loss from diabetic retinal disease.
• The Alliance for Healthcare from the Eye (AHE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 October 2025Strategic partnership to accelerate global adoption of oculomics in healthcare. AHE focuses on real-world implementation by leveraging ocular data and AI-driven analysis within coordinated care networks. CCOI establishes foundational frameworks for safe, effective, and globally scalable adoption including criteria for image acquisition, reference endpoints, and sustainable reimbursement models.
• Stanford University (Byers Eye Institute, Mussallem Center for Biodesign)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 July 2025Stanford University's Ophthalmic Innovation Program co-organizes and co-hosts the annual Ophthalmic Innovation Symposium with CCOI. The program teaches principles of regulatory science, clinical trial design, reimbursement, and IP protection. CCOI leaders serve as faculty and mentors including Distinguished Mentor-in-Residence role.
• GenentechminorOthers
• Bausch + LombminorOthers
• RegeneronminorOthers
• Topcon HealthcarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGold-level sponsor and strategic partner. CEO Ali Tafreshi serves as partner representative. Company involved in AI evaluation, interoperability standards, and oculomics partnerships with CCOI.
• AlconminorOthers
• Digital Diagnostics (formerly IDx)coreTechnology or IntegrationSilver-level sponsor. Founder Michael Abramoff serves as CCOI Treasurer and Chair of the Foundational Principles of AI Working Group. The company received the first-ever US FDA clearance for an autonomous AI system.
• ZeissminorOthers
• Macula FoundationminorOthers
• US FDA/CDRHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive participation from FDA leadership including Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) Director and Office of Health Technology leadership. Drives regulatory science initiatives, endpoints consensus workshops, and standards development.
• National Eye Institute (NEI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive participation from NEI leadership and funding support for Stanford travel grants. Contributes to AI research initiatives and data standards development.
• American Academy of OphthalmologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrong collaboration including joint workshops (Pediatric IOLs with AAPOS), leadership participation, and professional society endorsement for CCOI initiatives.
• LV Prasad Eye InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partner contributing to low-middle-income countries workgroup and global ophthalmic innovation initiatives.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Foundation Fighting Blindness: A disease-focused nonprofit that funds retinal degeneration research, convenes researchers and industry, and drives endpoint development. Comparable as a nonprofit that builds consensus across researchers, clinicians, regulators, and industry in ophthalmology — similar model and stakeholder mix to CCOI.
• Orbis International: Global nonprofit focused on preventable blindness and ophthalmic training in low- and middle-income countries. Comparable as a multi-stakeholder nonprofit with clinical, industry, and government partnerships, including a focus on underserved populations — directly aligned with CCOI's LMIC working group.
• The Alliance for Healthcare from the Eye (AHE): A coalition advancing oculomics — using ocular data and AI for systemic disease detection. Comparable to CCOI as a recently formed multi-stakeholder collaborative that includes regulators, clinicians, industry, and patient advocates, with which CCOI signed an October 2025 strategic partnership.
• Prevent Blindness: US nonprofit focused on vision health advocacy, education, and screening. Comparable as a mission-driven organization that convenes multiple stakeholders (clinicians, industry, government, patients) to advance eye health — overlapping CCOI's pediatric, advocacy, and public health activities.

Broad incumbents

• American Optometric Association (AOA): The largest US optometric professional association, representing optometrists on clinical, regulatory, and industry matters. Comparable as a multi-stakeholder convener and policy advocate in eye care — overlapping CCOI's pediatric, LMIC, and regulatory science workstreams.
• American Academy of Ophthalmology: The largest US professional membership organization for ophthalmologists. Comparable to CCOI as a multi-stakeholder convener in ophthalmology that develops clinical guidance, hosts annual meetings, and engages with regulators — though AAO is far larger and clinician-focused rather than innovation-focused.
• Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO): Premier global research society for vision and ophthalmology. Comparable as a membership-based organization that convenes researchers, clinicians, and industry around ophthalmic science, publishes peer-reviewed work, and shapes the research agenda — overlapping CCOI's clinical trials and AI working groups.
• American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS): Specialty society for cataract and refractive surgeons with industry partnerships and standards-setting influence. Comparable as a physician/industry collaborative that runs working groups on clinical endpoints and hosts symposia — directly overlapping CCOI's Cornea & Cataract and Vision Assessment working groups.
• National Eye Institute (NEI): The leading US federal institute for vision research and a CCOI Board member. Comparable as a funder and convener of ophthalmic research, with overlapping priorities in AI, AMD, glaucoma, and diabetic eye disease — and a direct governance linkage to CCOI via Director Emily Chew.
• World Health Organization Vision Programme: UN agency coordinating global eye health policy, including the SPECS 2030 initiative on refractive error and the World Report on Vision. Comparable as a global convener setting standards and policy in ophthalmology — overlapping CCOI's LMIC and global reach priorities, and via Don Calogero's prior WHO IOL guidelines work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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