Category: plano in the News

Singapore, 6th April 2021 – Review of Myopia Management (RMM) is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Singapore-based Healthtech company, Plano Pte Ltd. Under their new agreement, RMM and Plano will produce new educational content designed specifically for eye care professionals worldwide. By joining forces, the companies hope to expand their current platforms and engage with the growing international myopia management community.

Jobson Optical Group launched RMM in March 2019 to create and share the most up-to-date information and educational tools for eye care providers (ECPs). Over the last two years, RMM has established itself as the first multi-platform digital asset dedicated entirely to myopia management.

Plano entered the eye care field in late 2017 with the primary goal of protecting consumers’ eyes in the face of a growing digital landscape. The company recognized the ever-increasing number of myopia cases worldwide and the projections that those figures are expected to surge in the coming years. With the help of the Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, National Health Innovation Centre, and Enterprise Singapore, they worked to create an ecosystem that consists of: 1) educational content and community engagement to raise awareness on eye health and myopia in parents and children; 2) a science-based and innovative app, the planoApp, that empowers children to safely use digital smart devices while reducing their exposure to the risk factors for myopia, such as excessive digital screen time, lack of outdoor activity, and unsafe face-to-screen distance; 3) planoEyecheck, a smart online web platform to allow for efficient, convenient, cost-effective and targeted optometry bookings and; 4) predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to identify high-risk children in need of early intervention to reduce the progression of their myopia. The Plano ecosystem is now trusted by almost 500,000 parents from 10 different countries, including the U.S. and Australia.

“Review of Myopia Management and Plano are world leaders in addressing the global myopia crisis. This new content partnership will enhance our mission to educate and motivate ECPs to become proactive in aggressively managing childhood myopia,” said Dwight Akerman, OD, MBA, chief medical editor of Review of Myopia Management.

The Founding Managing Director of Plano, Associate Professor Mo Dirani, added that “To solve the global issue of myopia, a coordinated and comprehensive approach is needed, where specifically tailored education and awareness models play a central role. For this reason, partnering with the team at Review of Myopia Management made complete sense.”

Because of RMM and Plano’s similar goals in spreading awareness of myopia and educating ECPs about the benefits of myopia management treatments, this partnership will produce even more resources that can be used in myopia management by eye care professionals worldwide.

About Review of Myopia Management

Review of Myopia Management (RMM) is a leading source for eyecare professionals of clinical, practice management, and research information on myopia management. Since its inception in March 2019, RMM’s multi-channel format delivers content across all digital media. Utilizing the knowledge of world-renowned researchers and clinicians, Review of Myopia Management is curated to ensure eyecare professionals can proactively manage myopic children.

ABOUT PLANO
Plano was developed with a clear purpose; to save sight and empower lives. With a culture of disruptive thinking grounded in real scientific research, Plano promotes the use of innovative technology to provide a solution to help mitigate the public health, societal and economic issues posed by excessive device usage. Plano’s Founding Managing Director, Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani, has dedicated his life to the study and research of myopia and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School and an Honorary Principal Investigator at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA). In July 2020, Plano announced its strategic alliance with global ophthalmic leader, Santen Pharmaceutical. And in November 2020, Plano emerged as the winner of Galen Growth’s World’s Most Innovative HealthTech Startup 2020 Award from a field of 64 global HealthTech Startups.

For more information, visit plano.co

Media Contact: Evelyn Chua
T: +65 6957 6796
E: media@plano.co

Singapore, 5 February 2021 – Thomson X (“TX”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGX Mainboard-listed Thomson Medical Group Limited (the “Group”), today announced a strategic partnership with Plano Pte Ltd (“Plano”), a Singapore-based HealthTech startup. The collaboration will leverage on the respective strengths of TX and Plano to address and manage the rapidly increasing incidence of myopia through innovative technological solutions.

Myopia is steadily growing into one of the biggest public health challenges in the world, affecting an estimated 2.6 billion people globally, or about one-third of the world’s population. By 2050, myopia is projected to affect 5 billion people, which is estimated to be about half of the world’s population 1 . Developed economies in Asia such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea have reported myopia rates of more than 80% and the estimated direct annual costs of managing myopia globally amounts to US$328 billion².

Plano is a health technology company that specialises in myopia management through education and awareness, innovative technological solutions and AI. Supported by the Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore Eye Research Institute, National Health Innovation Centre and Enterprise Singapore, together with its recent strategic alliance with
Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a global ophthalmic leader, Plano is a leading advocate in raising awareness and educating the public on myopia, its risk factors and management strategies.

Thomson X, a platform that is focused on simplifying healthcare through technology, oversees Thomson Medical Group’s technology roadmap by connecting HealthTech startups with its healthcare expertise and network to scale up rapidly and maximise their reach, creating sustainable growth. Through the partnership, the Group’s patients at Thomson Paediatric Clinic and Thomson Kids in Singapore, and Thomson Eye Centre in Malaysia will soon have access to Plano’s innovative eye-care solutions on top of Thomson’s existing healthcare services. In addition, the partnership will also accelerate Plano’s market potential through TX’s global partner, the Global Esports Federation, by delivering innovative eye health services to Esports athletes and gamers who are exposed to long screen time.

The partnership will grant TX an option to subscribe for an equity stake in Plano which can be exercised in three tranches over a six-year period based on certain conditions. If all three tranches are exercised, TX will hold a minority stake in Plano, allowing TX to participate in Plano’s future growth.

References:

Holden BA, Fricke TR, Wilson DA, Jong M, Naidoo KS, Sankaridurg P, et al. Global Prevalence of Myopia and
High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050. Ophthalmology. 2016;123(5):1036-42.
World Health Organization. The impact of myopia and high myopia: Report of the Joint World Health
Organization – Brien Holden Vision Institute Global Scientific Meeting on Myopia. University of New South Wales,
Sydney, Australia: 2015.

ABOUT THOMSON X
Thomson X is a platform focused on enriching the current healthcare landscape through strategic partnerships and collaboration, so as to drive growth in the health and wellness space. Operating in synergy with Thomson Medical Group’s core activities and top-tier partners, Thomson X will fuel innovative health technology companies to maximise their
potential. At Thomson X, we embrace the spirit of spontaneity, creativity and passion.
Thomson X is a subsidiary of Thomson Medical Group
For more information, please visit: www.thomson-x.com

ABOUT PLANO
Plano was developed with a clear purpose; to save sight and empower lives. With a culture of disruptive thinking grounded in real scientific research, Plano promotes the use of education and awareness, innovative technological solutions and AI to help manage myopia & excessive device use. Plano’s founding Managing Director, Associate Professor Mohamed
Dirani, is dedicated to the study and research of myopia and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School and an Honorary Principal Investigator at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA). In July 2020, Plano announced its strategic alliance with global ophthalmic leader,
Santen Pharmaceutical. In Nov 2020, Plano emerged as the winner of Galen Growth’s World’s Most Innovative HealthTech Startup 2020 Award from a field of 64 global HealthTech Startups.
For more information, visit Plano.co

For media enquiries, kindly contact:
Thomson Medical Group
Warren Wu
T: (+65) 6933 8263
E: warrenwu@thomsonmedical.com

Plano
Timothy Su
T: (+65) 6957 6796
E: media@plano.co

(Singapore, November 24^th 2020) Up against 64 global HealthTech Startups, Plano Pte Ltd (hereinafter, Plano) has emerged as the winner of Galen Growth’s World’s Most Innovative HealthTech Startup 2020 Award. For this year’s tournament, Galen Growth expanded the list of promising early stage startups beyond Asia, to include competition from the United States, Europe, the Middle East in addition to Asia, which every year, brings thousands of voters to support their favourite startup.

“We are very grateful to every single person who voted for Plano and equally grateful to Galen Growth for bringing together and acknowledging so many HealthTech startups from across the globe. I personally see this outcome as a win not just for Plano and its team but also for Singapore as a nation which continues to lead the world in supporting and empowering entrepreneurship,” said Plano’s Founding Managing Director Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani.

Plano is the first spin-off from the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI)-Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) Ophthalmic Technologies Incubator Programme. Founded in September 2017, Plano seeks to address myopia, which is a major public health challenge affecting an estimated 2 billion people today and will affect a projected 5 billion (half of the world’s population) by 2050.¹Plano launched the world’s first science-based parental control application, planoApp, with a vision to “Keep all eyes healthy in our digitised world”. Today, Plano has an ecosystem comprising planoApp, planoEyecheck, planoShop and planoKids, that offers a wide range of eye health wellness solutions for all kids, parents and adults.

Professor Wong Tien Yin, Medical Director of the Singapore National Eye Centre said, “For a small country, Plano’s win is truly amazing for Singapore. This award will accelerate our ambition and consolidate our position in the global HealthTech and digital medicine space. For SNEC and SERI, this is a testament to our ability to develop cutting edge technology that has real-world relevance and it will allow us to continue our fight against myopia, one of the most pressing public health problems for future generations of children and adults”

Galen Growth is the global leader in digital health intelligence, analytics and matchmaking, empowering global Fortune 500 companies and institutional investors to fast track their growth strategies. They nominated 64 of the most promising early stage HealthTech startups from across the globe; screened for their business momentum based on its proprietary HealthTech Alpha assessment matrix, which led to weeks of closely fought battles where well-known ecosystem names, thriving new startups and previous winners competed against each other. The six single-elimination rounds format through public votes led to innovative startups such as Biofourmis being awarded this sought-after trophy in 2017, followed by Halodoc in 2018 and Hello Health Group in 2019.

Plano’s win was announced on 13 Nov 2020 at the 5th annual Galen Growth HealthTech Summit, which is dedicated to digital health across the globe. After achieving the coveted HealthTech Award, Associate Professor Mo Dirani had the unique opportunity to showcase Plano to all the movers and shakers of the HealthTech ecosystem.

“Every year, the tournament helps to bring the HealthTech ecosystem together by allowing them to campaign for support and votes. With the enormous numbers of votes received every year, the tournament also signals to an ever-vibrant and competitive ecosystem. Throughout the tournament, we saw tremendous support for Plano. The founding team of Galen Growth still remembers Mo, the Founding Managing Director of Plano, back when we were at the same co-working space not so long ago. It was fantastic to see the growth and success of Plano since its beginning in 2017. We are thrilled about their future as they continue to potentially touch millions of patients’ lives through education, awareness and digital solutions to transform digital eye care. As we head to 2021, the Galen Growth team is looking forward to continuously support the HealthTech startups that are transforming healthcare around the world,” said Julien de Salaberry, CEO and Founder of Galen Growth.

About Plano

Plano was developed with a clear purpose; to save sight and empower lives. With a culture of disruptive thinking grounded in real scientific research, Plano promotes the use of innovative technology to provide a solution to help mitigate the public health, societal and economic issues posed by excessive device usage. Plano’s founding Managing Director, Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani, has dedicated his life to the study and research of myopia and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School and an Honorary Principal Investigator at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA). In July 2020, Plano announced its strategic alliance with global ophthalmic leader, Santen Pharmaceutical. For more information, visit Plano.co

Media Contact: Timothy Su
T: +65 6957 6796
E: media@plano.co

About Galen Growth

Galen Growth is the global leader in digital health intelligence, analytics and matchmaking, empowering global Fortune 500 companies and institutional investors to fast track their growth strategies. Galen Growth is the only trusted expert dedicated to digital health innovation across the entire value chain of healthcare: from R&D to payments. We partner with proven HealthTech ventures, leading corporations and institutional investors to empower them to execute winning strategies. We believe the fastest, most effective way to scale digital health innovation is to be the preferred innovation partner for corporations, investors and startups to enable them to re-invent healthcare and realise its full societal value. With our unmatched and unequalled Asian, USA, M. East and European coverage, we are the only innovation platform capable of bridging the ambitions of global headquarters and investor teams, to enable near term tangible business results. For more information, visit www.galengrowth.com

Media Contact: Julien de Salaberry
E: julien.desalaberry@galengrowth.com

References:

1. Holden BA, Fricke TR, Wilson DA, et al. Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050. Ophthalmology 2016;123(5):1036-42.

(Singapore, August 19^th 2020) Plano Pte Ltd (hereinafter, Plano), a Singapore-based health technology startup, and one of the world’s leading providers of interactive entertainment, YOOZOO, have inked a Memorandum of Understanding to address the global burden of myopia in Singapore, the region and beyond.

Myopia (short-sightedness) is one of the biggest public health challenges of our time and is one of the most common health problems in the world, affecting an estimated 2 billion people today and projected to increase to 5 billion (half of the world’s population) by 2050.¹ In Singapore, which is often labelled as the myopia capital of the world, almost 80% of young adults have myopia upon completing college education.²

Whilst YOOZOO is best known for its work in global development and publishing, in recent years they have built upon their expertise in games to develop an AI Innovation Lab, focusing on healthcare, wellness and education.

Plano is a health technology company that specializes in myopia management through education, awareness and science-based technological interventions, which include the planoApp and planoEyecheck, an online optometry booking platform. In less than 3 years since its inception, Plano is considered as one of the world leaders in raising awareness and educating the public on myopia, its risk factors and management strategies.

Through this partnership, YOOZOO and Plano aim to address and combat the myopia epidemic by sharing both company’s technical and professional expertise with the common vision of improving the quality of life and providing a myopia-safe environment for families worldwide.

“It is truly encouraging to see YOOZOO, a world-renowned gaming company, taking notice and action to address the global problem of myopia in children and teenagers. I strongly believe that this partnership will set an example and create a strong foundation upon which future novel interventions for myopia will be developed,” said Plano’s Founding Managing Director Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani.

“We firmly believe in the power of AI to improve the quality of lives and this partnership with Plano will allow us to do so by tackling an emerging medical problem. We are very excited about what we can achieve with this partnership.” Added Chi-Keong Goh, YOOZOO’s AI Technical Director, with more than 15 years experience in developing and leading data-driven innovation.

About Plano

Plano was developed with a clear purpose; to save sight and empower lives. With a culture of disruptive thinking grounded in real scientific research, Plano promotes the use of innovative technology to provide a solution to help mitigate the public health, societal and economic issues posed by excessive device usage. Plano’s founding Managing Director, Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani, has dedicated his life to the study and research of myopia, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School and an Honorary Principal Investigator at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA). In July 2020, Plano announced its strategic alliance with global ophthalmic leader, Santen.

Official Site

Media Contact: Thanveer Ali

T: 90082972

E: media@plano.co

About YOOZOO Games

YOOZOO Games is a global entertainment company specializing in game development and distribution. The company is headquartered in Shanghai with offices across Asia, Europe, and the US. Since its founding in 2009, YOOZOO has forged a strong global distribution network and launched over 40 highly successful titles including Game of Thrones Winter is Coming, the League of Angels series and Saint Seiya Awakening: Knights of the Zodiac.

Official Site

Media Contact: Sean Young

E: SeanAY@yoozoo.com

References:

1. Holden BA, Fricke TR, Wilson DA, et al. Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050. Ophthalmology 2016;123(5):1036-42.

2. Seet B, Tien Yin W, Tan DTH, et al. Myopia in Singapore: Taking a public health approach. British Journal of Ophthalmology 2001;85(5):521-6.

June 30, 2020, Osaka, Japan and Singapore — Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, Santen) and Plano Pte. Ltd (hereinafter, Plano) today announced a strategic alliance to tackle the global burden of myopia. Under this strategic alliance, Plano has secured an investment from Santen. Santen, through Plano, will initiate to tackle the burden of myopia using both a holistic approach and innovative technological solutions.

Santen, as a leading company in the field of ophthalmology, has cultivated expertise and capabilities specializing in ophthalmology based on a thorough customer orientation, including patients and healthcare professionals. In recent years, we have focused our attention on medical devices and digital technologies, and have continued to take on the challenge of contributing to the health of the eyes of people around the world through activities that meet the needs of customers in each region, as well as offering products and solutions that cover a wide range of disease fields.

Plano is an eye health tech company launched in 2017, founded by Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani. It is the first spin-off from the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) – Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) Ophthalmic Technologies Incubator Programme, dedicated to accelerating highly promising ophthalmic R&D projects towards commercialisation and medical deployment. The key products in the company’s ecosystem include the plano application and the online optometry booking system, Plano Eyecheck. The science-based plano application has been adopted by more than 250,000 households. In less than 3 years, Plano is considered as one of the world leaders in raising awareness and educating the public on the prevention, detection and risk factors of myopia.

Myopia is one of the most common health problems in the world, affecting an estimated 2 billion people, or about 28% of the world’s population. The number of people with myopia is expected to increase to 5 billion by the year 2050, which will be half of the world’s population¹. Myopia affects people of every age, gender and race in every country. However, some countries have been affected more than others. Developed countries in East and Southeast Asia have the highest rates of myopia in the world. As many as 80-90% of teenagers and young adults in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and 96.5% of 19-year-old men in South Korea have myopia². Just 60 years ago, only 10-20% of people in China had myopia³. Myopia has also become more common in Europe, and the United States where it now affects up to 40% of people⁴. Treating myopia costs Asian economies US$328 billion every year⁵, with Singapore alone spending US$755 million annually⁶.

Shigeo Taniuchi, President and CEO of Santen said “I am pleased to have a strategic alliance with Plano. Santen will, through Plano, by this strategic alliance, initiate in Singapore to raise awareness and support prevention and management of myopia in everyday life, as well as to expand the novel solutions to the region and beyond. With a recognition of rapid increase of myopia as a social issue, as a global leader in ophthalmology, Santen will work closely with Plano to resolve social issues related to myopia and to improve QOL of the patients around the world.”

“This funding and strategic alliance with Santen will play an instrumental role in growing Plano’s user engagement, strengthen its big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, and drive its international expansion plans. The strategic alliance with Santen, who recognize myopia as a material issue, is very important as we collectively embark on our future objectives to advance Plano’s products and services, expand its myopia-centered ecosystem into the region and introduce new and people-centered products for the management of myopia. We are eager to get to work with the excellent team at Santen,” said Plano’s Managing Director Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani. “To align with Santen, who have shown leadership in ophthalmic care for over 130 years, is a humbling one. This alliance will provide the team at Plano with the added confidence, mentorship, and new opportunities to more effectively deliver its pioneering services in Singapore and the region. I am honored to be part of this journey and believe that this alliance will take Plano to even greater heights.”

Professor Wong Tien Yin, Medical Director of the Singapore National Eye Centre said, “Myopia is a major public health problem in Asia and globally. We need to continue to raise awareness of the impact of the disease, its major risk factors and how we can slow its progression to prevent visual impairment. In children, a combination of increasing opportunities for outdoor activities and reducing excessive near-work activities are important strategies. We are very happy to see this strategic alliance being created between Plano, a startup company which was created within SERI/SNEC’s incubator framework and Santen, a leading ophthalmic company with whom we have been working for several years on a broad strategic research and development collaboration. Plano’s growth is a testament to the ability of Singapore’s clinical centers to create internationally competitive and successful startups.”

Plano users can look forward to a series of exciting announcements which include a new app interface for both parents and children, improved product functionality, and for the first time in the world, an AI-driven calculator for the development, progression and stabilization of myopia in children and teenagers.

1. Holden BA, Fricke TR, Wilson DA, Jong M, Naidoo KS, Sankaridurg P, et al. Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050. Ophthalmology. 2016;123(5):1036-42.

2. Dolin E. The myopia boom. Nature. 2015;519(7543):276-8.

3. Morgan IG, French AN, Ashby RS, Guo X, Ding X, He M, et al. The epidemics of myopia: Aetiology and prevention. Progress in Retinal & Eye Research. 2017.

4. Vitale S, Sperduto RD, Ferris FL, 3rd. Increased prevalence of myopia in the United States between 1971- 1972 and 1999-2004. Arch Ophthalmol. 2009;127(12):1632-9.

5. World Health Organization. The impact of myopia and high myopia: Report of the Joint World Health Organization – Brien Holden Vision Institute Global Scientific Meeting on Myopia. University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia: 2015.

6. Zheng YF, Pan CW, Chay J, Wong TY, Finkelstein E, Saw SM. The economic cost of myopia in adults aged over 40 years in Singapore. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 2013;54(12):7532-7.

About Santen

As a specialized company dedicated to ophthalmology, Santen carries out research, development, marketing, and sales of pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter products, and medical devices. Santen is the market leader for prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals in Japan and its products now reach patients in over 60 countries. With scientific knowledge and organizational capabilities nurtured over a nearly 130-year history, Santen provides products and services to contribute to the well-being of patients, their loved ones and consequently to society. For more information, please visit Santen’s website (www.santen.com).

About Plano

Plano was developed with a clear purpose; to save sight and empower lives. With a culture of disruptive thinking grounded in real scientific research, Plano promotes the use of innovative technology to provide a solution to help mitigate the public health, societal and economic issues posed by excessive device usage. Plano’s founding Managing Director, Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani, has dedicated his life to the study and research of myopia, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School and an Honorary Principal Investigator at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA). www.plano.co

Santen Forward-looking Statements

Information provided in this press release contains forward-looking statements. The achievement of these forecasts is subject to risk and uncertainty from various sources. Therefore, please note that the actual results may differ significantly from the forecasts. Business performance and financial conditions are subject to the effects of changes in regulations made by the governments of Japan and other nations concerning medical insurance, drug pricing and other systems, and to fluctuations in market variables such as interest rates and foreign exchange rates.

Contact

Akiko Yoshikawa, Corporate Communications Group, Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

E-mail: ir@santen.com Tel. : +81-6-4802-9360

Thanveer Ali, Head of Communications, Plano Pte. Ltd

E-mail: media@plano.co Tel. : +65-9008-2972

(Singapore, 9 APRIL 2020) Local health tech company, Plano Pte Ltd today announced plans to deliver hundreds of its bestselling children’s book series, The Plano Adventures, to children in Singapore.

Plano has partnered with local charities and social service agencies in Singapore that work with children, including the Singapore Children’s Society and Singapore Muslim Women’s Association or PPIS. Beyond that, Plano is also distributing the books to parents across Singapore.

“As the world adjusts to the new normal, be it mass quarantines, lockdowns or self-isolations, parents may find it challenging to engage their children in fun, device-free activities at home. We want to work with families in need to provide them with more options for such activities,” said Plano’s Founding Managing Director, Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani.

The Plano Adventures are early chapters books based on scientific research. Shifting the power to the next generation, it was written to educate children on avoiding the pitfalls of excessive device use and establish a healthy relationship with emerging technology.

The team behind book series is former local TV news journalist/editor and author Hwee Goh, renowned illustrator who is the artist behind many of Singapore’s bestselling book series, David Liew and Academic and global myopia authority Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani. The books, published by Marshall Cavendish International, are in all major bookstores and available in the US, UK and Australia.

The company has made various efforts in recent years to form new partnerships to help children in need worldwide. In 2019, Plano had worked with The Fred Hollows Foundation to raise funds for the delivery of eye care services to the millions of Africans that suffer from debilitating vision loss.

Dr Dirani said that the donation of the books is an initial step Plano will be taking to reach out to families in need in this period of time.

“COVID-19 knows no geographical or social boundaries. We pledge to commit our time and resources towards helping Singaporean parents. In these uncertain times, we hope to spread joy, especially to children through the magic of our books.”

About Plano: Plano was developed with a clear purpose; to save sight and empower lives. With a culture of disruptive thinking grounded in real scientific research, Plano promotes the use of innovative technology to provide a solution to help mitigate the public health, societal and economic issues posed by excessive device usage. Plano’s founding Managing Director, Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani, has dedicated his life to the study and research of myopia, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School and an Honorary Principal Investigator at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA). www.plano.co

The complete bestselling book series, The Plano Adventures proudly joins the Health Promotion Board in its drive to fight myopia in primary schools. Academic and global myopia authority Associate Professor Mohamed (Mo) Dirani collaborated with Singapore’s award-winning creatives, Hwee Goh and David Liew to produce this engaging, readable series to prep children for this new digital world.

The Health Promotion Board supports Plano, a healthtech Singapore-based startup led by Assoc Prof Dirani, to spread its message of myopia prevention in schools. In 2019 alone, Plano visited 50 schools including Methodist Girls’ Primary School, Rosyth Primary School and Lakeside Primary School.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Yeah right. Unless you have extremely thick skin, I’m pretty sure you would have been hurt by something someone said about you at some point in your life. This is why I’m really glad that ‘Attack of the Cybugs’ dealt with the very real issue of cyberbullying.

IPG Mediabrands the global media arm of Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), have today launched a national pro-bono campaign in collaboration with their CSR partner plano, strategy-led design agency fst, and with the support of industry partners. The campaign aims to drive awareness in Singapore, a country which has been become known as ‘the myopia capital of the world’.

The striking campaign which will run across OOH, Print, Digital, Television, Radio and Social Media for the 8 weeks commencing Monday 25^th February; dramatises the square eyes parable to drive home the message that excessive/unhealthy device usage has been scientifically linked to a myopia (short-sightedness) epidemic.

IPG Mediabrands the global media arm of Interpublic Group has launched a national pro-bono campaign in collaboration with their CSR partner plano, strategy-led design agency fst, and with the support of industry partners. The campaign aims to drive awareness in Singapore, a country which has been become known as ‘the myopia capital of the world’.

The striking campaign which will run across OOH, Print, Digital, Television, Radio and Social Media for the 8 weeks commencing Monday 25th February; dramatises the square eyes parable to drive home the message that excessive/unhealthy device usage has been scientifically linked to a myopia (short-sightedness) epidemic.