The TheraTears Story:

Advanced Products Rooted In Advanced Science.

The TheraTears line of dry eye products was developed in the clinics and laboratories of the renowned Schepens Eye Research Institute by pioneering ophthalmologist, Jeffrey P. Gilbard, MD.

The Schepens Eye Research Institute, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the world's leading eye research facilities. It is the largest nonprofit institution in the world dedicated to the fight against blinding and painful eye conditions.

In 1976, while attending medical school at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Gilbard met his fist dry eye patient. He immediately realized that something had to be done to improve the very limited dry eye treatment options that existed at the time.

What began as a summer research project turned into one of the most productive dry eye research progams in the world when, in 1978, Dr. Gilbard received project grant funding from the National Eye Institute. To this day, he remains the youngest scientist in history to have received such funding. Dr. Gilbard's research program had one goal - to develop an eye drop that provided true relief to dry eye patients. It is out of this research that TheraTears Lubricant Eye Drops were created and eventually a full line of TheraTears dry eye products came to exist.

Dr. Gilbard completed his ophthalmology residency at Harvard Medical School in the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, where he remained as a Heed Fellow in Cornea and served as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School.

As the Founder, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Vision Research (AVR), Dr. Gilbard devoted his professiornal career to bringing better dry eye treatments to people around the world. TheraTears comprehensive line of dry eye treatments is currently available in more than 20 countries.

Dr. Gilbard passed away in 2009, but the TheraTears team remains wholly dedicated to his mission: "Complete dry eye relief for everyone." In May 2011, Advanced Vision Research was acquired by Akorn Pharmaceuticals. Akorn is a niche generic pharmaceutical company engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of multi-source and branded pharmaceutical products. Akorn is focused in the areas of ophthalmology, antidotes, anti-infectives, and controlled substances for pain management and anesthesia in the United States and across the globe.

Today, the Akorn and TheraTears teams are working together to continue the innovative research of Dr. Gilbard and to deliver effective, science-based treatments to dry eye sufferers around the world.