Sight Sciences an eyecare technology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative interventional technologies intended to transform care and improve patients’ lives, announced that, effective August 18, 2026, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated the TearCare System (TearCare) Indications for Use to state:
“The Sight Sciences TearCare System is a thermal-activated gland expression therapy that improves meibomian gland function in adult patients with evaporative dry eye disease due to meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), when used in conjunction with manual expression of the meibomian glands.”
As a result of this expanded indication, TearCare is now the first and only treatment for MGD indicated to improve meibomian gland function in patients suffering from dry eye disease.
Meibomian gland dysfunction is a leading cause of evaporative dry eye disease, affecting millions of patients and significantly impacting visual quality, ocular comfort, and daily vision-related activities. The updated FDA indication reinforces the importance of addressing meibomian gland dysfunction as an underlying cause of dry eye disease while providing eye care providers with a clinically meaningful endpoint focused on gland function.
“This label expansion represents a landmark moment for both the dry eye category and Sight Sciences,” said Paul Badawi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sight Sciences. “For the first time, eye care providers and patients have a treatment indicated to improve meibomian gland function for evaporative dry eye disease due to MGD. This important milestone reflects our commitment to advancing the science of interventional dry eye disease and providing eye care providers and patients with technologies that address the underlying cause, not just symptoms.”
“For chronic, progressive diseases like dry eye disease and glaucoma, meaningful treatment should ultimately be measured by what we can do to preserve or improve physiological function—not simply manage the consequences of disease,” said Neel R. Desai, M.D., Director of Cornea, Cataract, and Refractive Surgery at The Eye Institute of West Florida. “The recognition that TearCare improves meibomian gland function represents an important evolution in dry eye care. It validates the shift toward interventions designed to improve the function disrupted by MGD and raises the bar for what we should expect from treatment.”
Advancing Interventional Dry Eye Care
The TearCare System is designed to address meibomian gland dysfunction through precisely controlled, targeted thermal energy delivered directly to the eyelids while preserving natural blinking. Its proprietary SmartLids technology maintains therapeutic heat across the meibomian glands, helping soften obstructive meibum and, when combined with clinician-directed manual expression, effectively clear gland obstructions and improve meibomian gland function.
The updated clearance not only expands TearCare’s indication to include improvement of meibomian gland function, but also incorporates optional debridement as part of the TearCare System, further enhancing its comprehensive approach to treating evaporative dry eye disease due to MGD.
For complete indications for use, warnings, precautions, and adverse event information, visit www.sightsciences.com.
