Advancing Myopia Management with Essilor Stellest 2.0 Lenses

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Exploring H.A.L.T.* MAX Technology

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December 16, 2025

By Dr. Björn Drobe, Director of Applied Myopia Research, R&D, EssilorLuxottica

Since their introduction, Essilor® Stellest® lenses have offered eye care practitioners worldwide an evidence-based, spectacle lens solution designed to help slow myopia progression and axial elongation in children. With six-year clinical follow-up results announced this year, and seven-year data expected soon, the Essilor® Stellest® lens portfolio continues to build a robust evidence base while supporting millions of children in their myopia management journey across countries where the product is available.

Building on the strong clinical performance of Essilor® Stellest® lenses, Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses^† were designed by optimizing the optical characteristics of the lens with the aim of achieving higher efficacy in slowing axial elongation compared with the first-generation of Essilor® Stellest® lenses.

Twice the power,^‡ higher efficacy.^§,1

Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target (H.A.L.T.) MAX Technology: An Advanced Optical Design Approach

The mechanism of action of the Essilor® Stellest® lens with H.A.L.T.* technology is based on the principle that a volume of signal is more effective at slowing myopia progression than a surface of signal.^2,3

Building on this principle, Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses,^† powered by H.A.L.T.* MAX technology, represent the next evolution of this concept. By increasing both the mean power and asphericity of the lenslets, Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses^† create twice the depth of volume of non-focused light, positioned further from the retina compared to Essilor® Stellest® lenses.

This creates a stronger optical signal that helps slow axial elongation or myopic eye growth even further.^{§¶ 1} The enhanced configuration continues to deliver clear central vision and all-day comfort.

Clinical Evidence: From Concept to Evidence¹

The efficacy and performance of Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses^† was evaluated in a 12-month, prospective, randomized, double-masked, contralateral crossover clinical trial conducted in Singapore. The study compared Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses^† with the first-generation Essilor® Stellest® lenses in the same children under identical real-world conditions.

Study Design Highlights: 

• Participants: 50 children aged 6–10 years with myopia –0.50D to –4.75D
• Method: Each child wore an Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lens^† in one eye and an Essilor® Stellest® lens in the other for six months in the first phase, then switched combinations for the next six months in the second phase.
• Design rationale: 
  • Ensured that every child received a myopia management solution (ethical design).
  • Minimized confounding factors such as age, environment and near-work habits by allowing each child to serve as their own control.
  • The study design allowed direct within-subject comparison of the two lens designs, generating robust comparative data efficiently within one year while maintaining high ethical and scientific standards.

Outcomes:

• Axial elongation: Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses^† showed significantly greater efficacy in slowing myopic eye growth compared to Essilor® Stellest® lenses.
• Dose–response relationship: Higher lenslet power and asphericity correlated with greater efficacy, reinforcing the mechanism of action behind H.A.L.T.* MAX technology.
• Consistency: Results remained consistent across both crossover phases, confirming the reliability of outcomes within subjects.
• Visual acuity: Both lens designs maintained clear vision and visual comfort throughout wear.^4,5
• Compliance: Participants demonstrated excellent compliance with daily lens wear throughout the study.
• Safety: No discontinuations or lens-related adverse events were reported.

The clinical trial also showed children with faster axial elongation while wearing Essilor® Stellest® lenses experienced a greater relative effect when wearing Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses.^† A trend toward a greater effect was also observed in younger children (<8.5 years). These findings reinforce the importance of early and proactive myopia management, as emphasized in current clinical practice guidelines.⁶ 

Implications for Eye Care Professionals

Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses^† are currently available in China, with broader international rollout planned for 2026. For practitioners, the innovation offers:

• Our most efficacious spectacle lens to date for slowing myopic eye growth.^#1
• An evidence-based solution for children at risk of fast-progressing myopia.
• Integration within EssilorLuxottica’s broader myopia-management ecosystem combining lenses, diagnostic tools and digital support platforms for personalized care.
• Ongoing research, including a large-scale randomized controlled trial in China (initiated 2025); to further assess efficacy and visual outcomes.

Conclusion

Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses^† incorporate lenslets with increased mean power and asphericity to generate a greater volume of non-focused light positioned further from the retina compared to Essilor® Stellest® lenses.

A contralateral crossover clinical trial has demonstrated that the Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lens^† achieves superior efficacy in slowing axial elongation compared to the first-generation Essilor® Stellest® lens, while maintaining comparable visual acuity.^{‡¶ 1}  The recent publication of these results in Translational Vision Science & Technology (TVST) marks an important milestone in the field.¹ 

Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses^† represent a meaningful advancement in spectacle-based myopia management—an evidence-based, child-friendly solution to help address the global rise in childhood myopia.

This new generation of lenses represents the culmination of more than four decades of research and innovation within EssilorLuxottica’s R&D network. By combining advanced optical science with clinical validation, Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses^† reaffirm our commitment to supporting practitioners with innovations grounded in data, designed for daily practice and focused on better visual futures for children.

Practitioners and researchers seeking more information can access the published study in TVST here: Effect of Increased Power and Asphericity of Highly Aspherical Lenslets on Myopia Control Efficacy: A Contralateral Crossover Study

 

Dr. Björn Drobe is an optometrist and vision scientist with over 25 years of experience in the ophthalmic industry, specializing in myopia management and control in children. He started his career with the French R&D team before moving to Asia in 2007. From 2013 to 2017, he served as Associate Director of the Wenzhou Medical University – Essilor International Research Center (WEIRC), where he led an international research team focused on myopia in children. Since 2016, he has headed the Applied Myopia Research department at Essilor R&D in Singapore. Dr. Drobe has been instrumental in developing and clinically testing several generations of myopia control lenses, including the Essilor Stellest lenses, which have demonstrated efficacy in slowing myopia progression and axial elongation over a six-year trial. He holds more than 60 patents related to myopia control and optical technologies and has authored over 40 peer-reviewed scientific articles.

 

References and disclaimers 

*H.A.L.T. — Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target

† Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses are currently not available in all countries, including the United States, and have not been cleared by the FDA in the U.S.  

‡ Twice the power refers to two (or more) times the depth of volume of non-focused light (by design) compared to that of Essilor® Stellest® lenses—and is not associated with a doubling of lens power, lenslet power, or efficacy.

§ Based on 12-month results from a prospective, randomized, double-masked contralateral crossover clinical trial conducted in Singapore on 50 children. 

¶ Essilor® Stellest® lenses create a volume of non-focused light in front of the retina, which generates the stimulus that slows eye elongation in myopia. This stimulus is twice as strong in Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses compared to Essilor® Stellest® lenses. This does not imply the corresponding doubling of efficacy for slowing myopia progression.

# Compared to products within the Essilor® portfolio.

 

1. Raveendran RN, Ong WS, Wong YL, Zhan SJ, Lee CF, Lim SY, Drobe B. Effect of increased power and asphericity of highly aspherical lenslets on myopia control efficacy: a contralateral crossover study. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2025;14(11):9. doi:10.1167/tvst.14.11.9.
2. Woods J, Guthrie SE, Keir N, et al. Inhibition of Defocus-Induced Myopia in Chickens. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2013; 54: 2662–2668.
3. Irving EL, Yakobchuk-Stanger C. Myopia progression control lens reverses induced myopia in chicks. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2017; 37: 576–584.
4. No significant difference in distance BCVA between Essilor® Stellest® and Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses when looking through the central zone of the lens (Drobe B, et al. Effect of increased power and asphericity of lenslets in myopia control spectacle lenses on short-term visual performance. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2025;66:2144)
5. When looking through the peripheral aspherical lenslet portion of the lens, there was no significant difference between Essilor® Stellest® and Essilor® Stellest® 2.0 lenses in high contrast distance visual acuity (VA), low contrast distance VA and low contrast near VA (EssilorLuxottica. Data on File. 2025 Effect of increased power and asphericity of lenslets in myopia control spectacle lenses on short-term visual performance.)
6. IMI Clinical Management Guidelines Report, Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2019;60(3):M184–M203.