Second Sight Rises on Fox News Report

Second Sight Medical Products Inc.’s stock on Thursday traded at five times its average volume – and its price jumped more than 20 percent – after a Fox News story aired about the company’s primary medical device, the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. The story introduced Steve McMillin, who lost his sight from retinitis pigmentosa, a rare degenerative eye disease that causes blindness. After being blind for eight years, McMillin was the first candidate to receive the Argus II at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. The device records images from a camera attached to a patient’s glasses and wirelessly transmits those images to an implant on the surface of the retina, stimulating the retina. As a result, the brain is able to interpret the images as black and white contrasts, allowing the patient to decipher basic objects. After the surgery, McMillin was able to regain some vision and referred to the Argus II as a “game changer.” Shares closed up 86 cents, or 22 percent, to $4.71 on the Nasdaq.