Patent ID: 7875660

Claim:
A process for making siloxane-containing contact lenses, comprising the steps of: a) contacting a siloxane-containing contact lens with a first polyionic material, thereby bonding said polyionic material to the siloxane-containing contact lens to form a coating on the surface of the siloxane-containing contact lens, wherein the siloxane-containing contact lens comprises a core material having no theoretical ionic charge and is a copolymerization product of a composition including a silicone-containing monomer or macromer and a hydrophilic comonomer and which is not previously treated to increase its surface charge density, b) placing the siloxane-containing contact lens with the coating thereon in a container containing a packaging solution; wherein the packaging solution comprises a tonicity adjusting agent, water and a second polyionic material having charges opposite of the charges of said first polyionic material, thereby forming a siloxane-containing contact lens having a polyelectrolyte bilayer; and c) sterilizing the siloxane-containing contact lens with the polyelectrolyte bilayer thereon in the package.