Built on Topcon’s Global Diagnostic Network and Microsoft Azure Cloud, Oku Operationalizes Healthcare from the Eye® Across 10,000+ Connected Sites

LA JOLLA, Calif. — Oku Digital Health, Inc. (“Oku”), an AI-powered digital health company connecting eye insights to whole-body health, today announced its global launch from Topcon Healthcare, Inc. Oku turns routine eye exams into a front door for early disease detection and accelerated clinical development by unlocking eye data, connecting clinicians, and accelerating pharmaceutical programs.

Bridging Gaps to Support Earlier Interventions

As noted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 90% of the $5.3 trillion annual U.S. healthcare spend targets chronic and mental health conditions.¹ Several of these conditions are associated with measurable signals in the eye that can be detected before diagnosis. Advancements in AI algorithms and oculomics now enable clinicians to analyze eye data for earlier detection of signs associated with health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and other systemic illnesses.² ³

“The eye is becoming the front door to medicine, but a front door only matters if it leads somewhere,” said Ali Tafreshi, Chief Executive Officer, Oku Digital Health, Inc. “Oku puts what the eye reveals in the hands of those who can act on it; clinicians and researchers across eye care, primary care, and drug development.”

Built on Topcon’s infrastructure, Oku operationalizes oculomics across a connected network of more than 10,000 care locations. Oku combines AI-supported diagnostics, EHR integration, and referral workflows to connect:

• Healthcare providers, including primary care, optometry, ophthalmology, and specialists, to support early intervention and disease management.
  
  
• Pharmaceutical partners with patient data and real-world evidence for drug development and precision medicine.

“Topcon Healthcare is synonymous with the diagnostic solutions optometrists and ophthalmologists rely on everyday. Over the past five years, we strategically invested in software, clinical decision support, and AI to achieve our Healthcare from the Eye® vision,” said Lance Patton, President, Topcon Healthcare, Inc. “Uniting these capabilities under Oku transforms what’s possible and represents a natural expansion of that vision.”

Transformative Leadership

Oku’s founding leadership team also comes together from shared experience at Topcon Healthcare. Each member of Oku’s leadership team also contributes expertise gained from technology disruptors such as Microsoft and NVIDIA, as well as leading-edge research and academic institutions:

• Chief Executive Officer Ali Tafreshi. Tafreshi remains the Chief Strategy Officer for Topcon Corp., Eyecare Business Division, and the Chief Executive Officer of Topcon Healthcare, Inc. Previously, he was Global Head/VP of Product Management and Clinical Affairs at Heidelberg Engineering.
  
  
• Chief Operating Officer Trent Norris. Norris previously served as the Global Head of Business Development – Digital Health at NVIDIA, Founder of Blue Pelican Health, and in executive and leadership roles at Flywheel.io and Microsoft, respectively.
  
  
• Chief Data AI Officer Matthew Lungren, MD, MPH. Dr. Lungren is also an Adjunct Professor – Biomedical Data Science at Stanford University School of Medicine. He formerly served as Chief Scientific Officer at Microsoft Health and Life Sciences.
  
  
• Chief Medical Officer Daniela Ferrara, MD, PhD, FASRS, FARVO. Dr. Ferrara is also an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine. Previously, she spent nearly 11 years at Genentech, where she became Principal Medical Director of Ophthalmology.
  
  
• Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer Jacques Gilbert. Gilbert successfully exited 3 start-ups, previously served as Vice President – Healthcare Strategy, Partnerships, and M&A at Microsoft, as well as senior roles at Nuance Communications and GE Healthcare.

Oku will make its debut at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, October 9 to 12, 2026. Attendees can meet the Oku team and explore its solutions within the Topcon Healthcare booth at AAO (1737). Learn more about Oku’s provider solutions here and its pharma solutions here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Oku Digital Health?

A: Oku Digital Health, Inc. is an AI-powered digital health company that connects routine eye exam care with broader patient health data for earlier identification of the signs associated with chronic disease, more coordinated clinical care, and real-world insights that support commercial drug development.

Q: What is Healthcare from the Eye®?

A: Healthcare from the Eye® is a proactive approach to healthcare that leverages routine eye exams as an entry point for detecting, managing, and researching systemic disease. Topcon Healthcare pioneered the concept through its diagnostic imaging infrastructure. Oku extends it into a connected care and life sciences ecosystem.

About Oku Digital Health
Oku Digital Health, Inc. is an AI-powered digital health company headquartered in La Jolla, Calif., that connects eye insights to whole-body care. Launched from Topcon Healthcare, Inc. in 2026, Oku unites a connected network of more than 10,000 care locations, leverages Topcon’s global installed base of 50,000+ diagnostic devices, and has screened over 2.2 million patients outside of traditional eye care. Built on Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure and optimized for AI workloads with NVIDIA CUDA libraries, Oku helps healthcare providers, researchers, and life sciences partners unlock the full clinical value of ophthalmic data.

Learn more at www.okuglobal.com

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about Oku’s plans, products, technologies, business integration, and growth. Words such as “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “may,” and similar expressions identify these statements. They reflect Oku’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including risks related to regulatory clearance and oversight of Oku’s products, the integration of recently combined businesses, Oku’s ability to obtain and use data in compliance with law and contract, its commercial relationships with Topcon and other partners, market acceptance, cybersecurity and data privacy, and competition. Oku undertakes no obligation to update these statements, except as required by law.

MEDIA CONTACT

Jamie Allyn
MERGE for Oku Digital Health, Inc.
[email protected]
www.okuglobal.com/in-the-news

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fast Facts: Health and Economic Costs of Chronic Conditions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published May 15, 2024. Updated May 26, 2026. Accessed September 29, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/chronic-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html
2. Zhu Z, Wang Y, Qi Z, et al. Oculomics: Current Concepts and Evidence. Progress in Retinal and Eye Research. 2025;106:101350. doi:10.1016/j.preteyeres.2025.101350
3. Zhou Y, Chia MA, Wagner SK, et al. A foundation model for generalizable disease detection from retinal images. Nature. 2023;622:1-8. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06555-x