MONROVIA, Calif., June 17, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- STAAR Surgical Company (Nasdaq: STAA), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable lenses and related ophthalmic products, today announced the completion of a registered direct offering of 4,255,319 shares of its common stock, at a price of $1.88 per share, which was the closing market price on June 16, 2009. The net proceeds will be approximately $8.0 million because the Company did not use an underwriter for this transaction. This transaction was funded by unanimous participation among STAAR's largest shareholders, demonstrating continued investor support for the Company and its technology.

STAAR intends to use the proceeds to fund a deposit with the court to secure a stay of enforcement of the judgment pending STAAR's appeal in the Parallax Medical Systems, Inc. litigation. The current temporary stay in the case expires on June 22, 2009. All shares of common stock offered by STAAR were sold pursuant to a shelf registration statement that was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 12, 2009. No other securities were issued in connection with this offering. The offering is expected to close on or about June 17, 2009.

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, a tiny, flexible lens implanted to correct refractive errors, as well as innovative products designed to improve patient outcomes for cataracts and glaucoma. Manufactured in Switzerland by STAAR, the ICL is approved by the FDA for use in treating myopia, has received CE Marking and is sold in more than 50 countries. Collamer(R) is the brand name for STAAR's proprietary collagen copolymer lens material. 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 statements about any of the following: projections of earnings, revenue, sales, cash or other financial items; the plans, strategies, and objectives of management for future operations or prospects for achieving such plans; strategies or objectives; prospects for appeal of the adverse verdict in the Parallax litigation; continued growth of the ICL, TICL or other products in the U.S. or international markets; expected cost savings; our future performance; 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, the fact that our public accounting firm has expressed doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern in their opinion on our financial statements, the need to defend other litigation similar to the Parallax case and to satisfy judgment in the event of an adverse ruling in that case, for which we have taken no reserve, the effect the global recession may have on sales of products, especially products such as the ICL used in non-reimbursed elective procedures, the challenge of managing our foreign subsidiaries, the risk that sales of our newly introduced products may not restore profitability to our U.S. IOL product line, our ability to resolve FDA concerns over the clinical study for the Toric ICL and 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 the potential effect of recent negative publicity about LASIK on the demand for refractive surgery in general in the U.S. STAAR assumes no obligation to update its 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      Christopher Gale, 646-201-5431
              Michael Pollock, 415-896-6820

SOURCE STAAR Surgical Company

http://www.staar.com