Revenue Increases to Approximately $14.6 Million
           Sequential Domestic Visian ICL(TM) Sales Increase 76.2%
               Cash Burn Expected to be Less Than $1.2 Million

MONROVIA, Calif., July 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STAAR Surgical Company (Nasdaq: STAA), a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of minimally invasive ophthalmic products, today provided selected preliminary results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2006.

Revenue for the second quarter is expected to be approximately $14.6 million, a 9.4 percent sequential increase from the first quarter of 2006 revenue of $13.3 million and a 4.7 percent increase from revenue of $13.9 reported during the second quarter of 2005. Worldwide sales of STAAR's refractive implant, the Visian ICL(TM), are expected to grow in the second quarter of 2006 by approximately 39.4 percent from the first quarter of 2006 to approximately $3.3 million. Sales of the Visian ICL in the U.S., where it was recently approved for the treatment of myopia, are expected to be approximately $1.2 million, up from $680,000 in the first quarter of 2006.

"Our second quarter performance reflects building demand throughout the world for our Visian ICL with a 99 percent increase in VISIAN sales for the current quarter compared with the second quarter of 2005," said David Bailey, president and chief executive officer. "We continue to proctor additional surgeons for the Visian ICL and as of July 11 have completed the proctoring process with 175 surgeons. We expect to provide further update on our launch of the Visian ICL in the U.S. market when we report our final second quarter results on August 1.

"Under the leadership of our chief financial officer, Deborah Andrews, and her team, we've also made tremendous progress in managing our cash burn during the quarter," Mr. Bailey continued. "Based on preliminary review of our second quarter results, we expect the cash burn during the quarter to be less than $1.2 million, which would represent tremendous improvement from the first quarter," he concluded.

About STAAR Surgical

STAAR Surgical is a leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of minimally invasive ophthalmic products employing proprietary technologies. STAAR's products are used by ophthalmic surgeons and include the Visian ICL as well as innovative products designed to improve patient outcomes for cataracts and glaucoma. STAAR's ICL is approved by the FDA for use in treating myopia, has received CE Marking and is approved for sale in 42 countries. More than 50,000 ICLs have been sold worldwide. More information is available at www.staar.com.

Safe Harbor

All statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including any projections of earnings, revenue, sales, cash or other financial items, any statements of the plans, strategies, and objectives of management for future operations, any statements regarding expectations for success of the ICL or other products in U.S. or international markets, statements of belief and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. These statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties include our limited capital resources and limited access to financing, our ability to overcome negative publicity resulting from warning letters and other correspondence from the FDA Office of Compliance, the willingness of surgeons and patients to adopt a new product and procedure, and our ability to successfully launch and market the ICL in the U.S. while overcoming the foregoing challenges. Our ability to capitalize on the opportunity presented by the U.S. ICL approval depends on our overall financial condition, which can be adversely affected by general economic conditions and other factors beyond our control, including those detailed from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. STAAR assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or actual outcomes and does not intend to do so.

     CONTACT:  Investors                          Media
               EVC Group                          EVC Group
               Douglas Sherk, 415-896-6820        Steve DiMattia, 646-277-8706
               Jennifer Beugelmans, 415-896-6820


SOURCE  STAAR Surgical Company
    -0-                             07/13/2006
    /CONTACT:  investors, Douglas Sherk, +1-415-896-6820, or Jennifer
Beugelmans, +1-415-896-6820, or media, Steve DiMattia, +1-646-277-8706, all of
EVC Group, for STAAR Surgical Company/
    /Web site:  http://www.staar.com/
    (STAA)

CO:  STAAR Surgical Company
ST:  California
IN:  HEA MTC
SU:  ERP

JB
-- SFTH031 --
4363 07/13/2006 06:30 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com