Corn based chemistries for making renewable optical polymers

Prescription eyeglass is a $100 billion industry that serves 3 billion people worldwide. It is also oneof the top 10 consumer markets for plastic consumption. Majority of all eyeglass lenses today aremade with Polycarbonate a Prop 65 regulated chemical. Significant health and environmentalconcerns prevail around the presence of Bis Phenol A or BPA due to its effects on reproductivehealth. This SBIR proposal aims to create a parallel for Polycarbonate in eyeglasses with a bio- plastic derived from corn-based raw materials. Our novel chemistry platform has created atransparent lightweight and highly impact resistant material of excellent optical properties asrequired for making eyeglasses. Key benefits of our technology extend beyond the creation of anew material and extend through a cheaper faster and waste reducing method for moldingprescription lenses. Data generated by Novol demonstrates that our lens has improved opticalbenefits compared to Polycarbonate for myopic patients. Myopia comprises of 50-60% of all lenssales. WHO estimates that 2 billion people will be myopic by 2020. Broader impact of thistechnology proposal is to make eyeglasses exponentially more affordable for people who arecurrently marginalized by their high costs especially in base of pyramids markets. Our one-step toprescription lens technology simplifies the eyewear supply chain and can lower costs dramaticallyfor billions of people around the world who are 1 pair of eyeglass away from eventual blindness.