Eye scan firm hails vision for the future

Roy Davis built up Welsh medical technology firm Gyrus before selling it to Japanese camera maker Olympus for nearly 630 million in 2007.

He is now employing a similar strategy at Optos, building up the company's range of products through acquisitions and distribution deals.

Davis is on the hunt for technology that employs "optical coherence tomography" (OCT), a technique that measures the thickness of the retina, the rear part of the eye, which can be important in diagnosing diseases.

Optos' three current machines are used to take pictures of a patient's retina. Davis believes marrying the two technologies could pay dividends for the company.

Optos claims its machines can photograph a larger portion of the retina than rival equipment and the devices have recently won plaudits from medical experts.

Davis told Scotland on Sunday: "It's an exciting time for Optos. We've turned the company around and now have exciting growth prospects. There are a limited number of companies - mainly in Germany and Japan - working in the field of OCT.

"We wouldn't rule out either buying or licensing the technology but we won't be developing it from scratch."

Davis joined the company in November 2008 after the sudden departure of his predecessor. Many commentators had accused Optos of failing to live up to its promises since floating at 250p a share in 2006.

Davis moved the company from renting out its machines to selling them to customers, a practice that has proved popular with clients.

In November, Optos posted a 9 per cent rise in turnover to 66.5m and swung from a 2.3m loss to a 7.9m profit.

Analysts have reacted well to Davis' strategy and shares closed up 0.5p at 197p on Friday. Some 85 per cent of Optos' sales come from the United States but, as revealed in The Scotsman last week, Davis now plans to double his European sales team for a push this year.