NAGOYA, Japan, August 12, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Menicon Co., Ltd. has announced the appointment of Mark Allen as Vice President of Manufacturing for Lagado Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Menicon America Inc. Allen will report to Jonathan Jacobson, President of Menicon America.

Allen joins Menicon with over 25 years experience in the cGMP manufacturing sector, including over 11 years in the contact lens and ophthalmic viscoelastics industry. During his career in medical products, Allen has held key leadership roles in manufacturing, quality assurance, regulatory affairs and research and development. For the last three years, Allen has held the position of Vice President of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs at Bonfils Blood Center, a renowned leader in blood collection, manufacturing, testing and research located in Denver, Colorado.

Allen has strong expertise in cGMP manufacturing, ISO operations and regulatory compliance and approval strategies in the US and Europe. He also has a track record for innovation, and holds several US patents for medical products.

Allen will oversee manufacturing operations of Lagado Corporation and will be based in Denver. Allen will work closely with Bill Hoffman, research scientist for Lagado, in brining new contact lens materials to market for custom lens manufacturers.

I am thrilled to be joining the Menicon team, said Allen. The recent acquisition of Lagado marks the latest milestone in Menicon America's strategy to aggressively pursue the US market. I look forward to continuing Lagado's established history of high-quality and innovative products, and I will bring a new emphasis for providing strong technical support for our customers.

Jacobson, Menicon's General Manager, Global Business Strategies Operations, commented: We are very happy to welcome Allen on board. The depth of Mark's experience and leadership in guiding world-class operations to manufacture the highest-quality medical devices is a tremendous asset for Lagado and Menicon.

About Menicon:

Menicon Co., Ltd. (http://www.menicon.com), founded by Kyoichi Tanaka in 1951, is Japan's first and largest contact lens manufacturer, and now is represented in over 30 countries. Menicon is a manufacturer dedicated to all areas of soft and GP contact lens related businesses including material development, lens designing, and manufacturing of contact lenses and care solutions. Menicon is a world leader in the development of hyper-Dk GP (Menicon Z) and soft contact lenses (Menicon PremiO).

SOURCE: Menicon Co., Ltd.

CONTACT: Toshio Matsushima, Global Strategies Operations, Menicon Co.,Ltd., Phone: +81-52-937-5021, Fax: +81-52-935-1121, E-mail:matsushima@menicon-net.co.jp, URL: http://www.menicon.com