Bausch & Lomb

Bausch + Lomb Corporation

Company type	Public
Traded as	TSX:BLCO NYSE:BLCO
Industry	Medical instruments
Founded	1853(1853)inRochester, New York,US
Founders	John Bausch Henry Lomb
Headquarters	Vaughan, Ontario,Canada
Key people	Brent Saunders(CEO)
Products	Eye-care products and equipment
Revenue	US$3.77 billion (2022)
Operating income	US$207 million (2022)
Net income	US$6 million (2022)
Total assets	US$11.1 billion (2022)
Total equity	US$7.10 billion (2022)
Number of employees	c. 12,900(2022)
Website	bausch
Footnotes / references

John Bausch and Henry Lomb

Bausch & Lomb(since 2010 stylized asBausch + Lomb) is an American-Canadian eye health products company based inVaughan, Ontario,Canada. It is one of the world's largest suppliers ofcontact lenses,lens care products, pharmaceuticals,intraocular lenses,and other eye surgery products.The company was founded inRochester, New York,in 1853 by opticianJohn Bauschand cabinet maker turned financial backerHenry Lomb.Until its sale in 2013, Bausch + Lomb was one of the oldest continually operating companies in the United States.

Bausch + Lomb was a public company listed on theNYSE,until it was acquired byprivate equityfirmWarburg Pincusin 2007. In May 2013, Canadian-basedValeant Pharmaceuticalsannounced that it would acquire Bausch + Lomb from Warburg Pincus for $4.5 billion in cash.The deal, which was approved by shareholders, closed on August 5, 2013.On May 6, 2022, the company completed aninitial public offeringand again became publicly traded.As of 2022, the company employs about 12,900 people,and manufactures and markets health care products directly or indirectly in approximately 100 countries.

Company history

Early years

New York headquarters of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company in 1891

In 1853,John BauschandHenry Lomb,both German immigrants, established a small but ambitious workshop producingmonoclesin Rochester, New York.By 1861, their operation had expanded to manufacturingvulcaniterubbereyeglass frames and other precision vision products.

Early growth of the company

During theAmerican Civil War,theUnion blockadecaused the price of gold and European horn to rise dramatically. This resulted in a growing demand for the Bausch + Lomb spectacles made fromvulcanite.

In 1876,Ernst Gundlachjoined the company as it began to manufacturemicroscopes.Later that year, the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company won a distinction at the PhiladelphiaCentennial Exposition.The company also producedphotographic lenses(1883),spectacle lenses(1889),microtomes(1890),binocularsandtelescopes(1893).From 1892 in cooperation withZeissin Germany, the company produced opticallenses.In this manner, at the end of the 19th century, the product range includedeyeglasses,microscopes and binoculars, as well asprojectors,camera lensesandcamera diaphragms.

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  Microscope 1883
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  Universal Microscope, Bausch and Lomb, c. 1890
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  Bausch & Lomb Convertible Balopticon projector, circa 1913

Expansion of production at the beginning of the 20th century

With the growth of the US army, under PresidentTheodore Rooseveltand the buildup of the naval fleet, Bausch & Lomb received the commission, through the supplierSaegmuller,to manufacture high-precision lenses for optical measurement and founded ajoint venturewith Saegmuller. At the same time as this new expansion, a research department with five members was started to develop new products and improve old ones. A new alliance with the Zeiss company in Germany ensured competitive advantages for the three participants, Bausch & Lomb, Saegmuller and Zeiss, in terms of patent use and opening new markets. In 1902, William Bausch, the son of the founder, developed a process to create the desired lens shape directly by casting molten glass. Previously, the glass parts for the lenses had to be separated, ground and polished in a complicated process, and this brought significant savings in time and materials.

The company produced the first optical-quality glass in America during the early to mid-1900s. By the year 1903 the company began manufacturing microscopes, binoculars, andcamera shutters.

The First and Second World Wars

The further development of the firm was affected by political events. Because of the World Wars and the consequent need for optical instruments such as field glasses,range finders,camera lenses, binocular telescopes, searchlight mirrors, torpedo tube sights, andperiscopes,the product range could be considerably broadened. UntilWorld War I,optical glass and the instruments made from it (including many military instruments) were often imported into most European and North American countries from Germany. The same was also true of chemical products and laboratory equipment. The outbreak of the war, with Germany's new enemy status, created a scramble to rapidly enhance the domestic industries.In 1933, Bausch + Lomb started to honor outstanding high school science students with the Bausch+Lomb Honorary Science Award. In the 1930s, military products represented 70% of total production. TheRay-Banbrand of sunglasses was developed for pilots in 1936.

After 1945

At a time when the cinema was being superseded by television, Bausch & Lomb developed improved optics for theCinemaScopeprocess, which popularized the film-basedanamorphic formatand led most cinemas to double the widths of their screens.

In 1965 Bausch & Lomb acquired the patent for the hydrogel contact lenses created by Czech scientistsOtto WichterleandDrahoslav Lím.In 1971, after three years of development work, two years for the medical approval by the United StatesFood and Drug Administrationand an investment of three million USD, Bausch + Lomb launchedcontact lensesmade ofPoly-HEMA.In contrast to the contact lenses previously available, made of glass and Lucite (acrylic glass),the new lenses were softer. They were marketed under the brand name "Soflens".

In the 1970s, the company was a major producer ofspectrophotometersfor the dye and chemical business, such as theSpectronic 20.

A massive restructuring of the company began in the mid-1980s. What had been the core divisions, the production of lenses for various purposes, were sold off. The sunglasses division was continued asRay-Banand kept selling well due to effectiveproduct placement.By the planned acquisition of other firms, such as Polymer Technology Corporation and Dr. Mann Pharma, existing business areas such as contact lens production were strengthened and new ones were initiated.

In 1997, as a result of a series of company acquisitions, the division for the manufacture of surgical products was established. TheRay-Banbrand was sold in 1999 to the ItalianLuxotticaGroup.

Company developments in recent years

Since then, Bausch & Lomb has developed into a globally operating company which is one of the largest producers of contact lenses. As of 2022, about 12,900 employees in approximately 100 countries work for the firm.

Competitors in the international eye care products market areJohnson & Johnson,Allergan,Alcon,MSD-Chibret,CooperVision,Menicon Co.,Hoya Corporation,EssilorLuxotticaandCarl Zeiss Meditec.

In 2023, Bausch + Lomb Corp announced it would it would buyXiidrafrom Novartis for $1.75 billion and pay additional $750 million in linked to future sales for Xiidra as well as two pipeline asset.

Chief executives

Name	Title	Tenure
John Jacob Bausch	President	1885–1926
Edward Bausch	President	1926–1935
M. Herbert Eisenhart	President	1935 – December 1950
Joseph F. Taylor	President	January 1951 – November 1954
Carl S. Hallauer	President	November 1954 – March 1959
William W. McQuilkin	President	March 1959 – May 1971
Jack D. Harby	President	May 1971 –
Daniel G. Schuman	CEO	– April 1981
Daniel E. Gill	CEO	April 1981 – December 1995
William M. Carpenter	CEO	1996 – June 1998
Ron Zarella	CEO	2001–2008
Gerald Ostrov	CEO	2008 – March 2010
Brent Saunders	CEO	February 2010 – August 2013
Joseph C. Papa	CEO	May 2016 – March 2023
Brent Saunders	CEO	March 2023 – present

Business areas

The Global Eye Health Center inRochester, New York

Business areas are divided into three large divisions:

• Vision Care: contact lenses and eye-care products.
• Pharmaceuticals: medicines for various eye diseases and irritations.
• Surgery: aids and implants.

In the last few years, several business areas in the Vision Care division have been developed in the framework of product diversification. The manufacturing of contact lenses still accounted for 28% of Bausch & Lomb's turnover in 2001, making it its main business activity. The "SofLens One Day"soft contact lensrange have to be changed every day. The product assortment includes higher quality lenses, such as the "SofLens Comfort" or "Seequence" lenses which can be changed after two weeks. The "SofLens66 Toric" were specially designed for people withastigmatism.Lenses from the "Boston" range have a higher oxygen permeability and are more suited for people with sensitive or dry eyes. The newest and most advanced lens range is called "PureVision".These lenses are so oxygen-permeable that they can remain in the eye up to 30 days without being taken out at night. The second largest business, at 25%, is the manufacture of lens-care products. As well as simple combination cleaning and disinfectant solutions for both soft and hard lenses, pH neutral solutions are available for people with particularly sensitive eyes.

The Pharmaceuticals division manufactures pharmaceutical eye products, which account for 21% of turnover. This range covers prescription medicines for eye irritation, allergic reactions or high eye pressure. The development of this division was speeded up by take-overs of other firms.

The Surgicals division is divided into Refractive Surgery with 8% of turnover and Cataract Vitreotinal Surgery with 18%. The latter division is concerned with products for operations on glaucoma and cataracts and on the cornea, as well as implantable, interocular lenses. The Refractive Surgery division comprises mainly medical analysis devices and lasers required for eye surgery. In order to strengthen this division, the competing companies of Storz and Chiron were acquired.

PureVision

Bausch + Lomb was in a lawsuit withNovartiswhich claimed to havepatentson a Bausch + Lomb product called PureVision. On June 26, 2002, a federal judge ruled that Bausch & Lomb did infringe onCiba Vision(a subsidiary of Alcon) patents.

On July 2, 2004, the company announced that it had licensed the intellectual property of Novartis.Bausch & Lomb will pay the Ciba Vision unit of Novartis a royalty on net U.S. sales of its PureVision brand contact lenses until 2014 and on net sales outside the U.S. until 2016. But as of now, the brand FreshLook comes under Bausch and Lomb and Ciba manufacturers it.

ReNu product recalls

Main article:ReNu

On April 11, 2006, Bausch & Lomb stopped shipments of itsReNuwith MoistureLoc contact lens solution when theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) announced there was a high correlation between use of the product and cases of suspected fungalkeratitis.TheCenters for Disease Controlfound that "nearly all of the company's ReNu with MoistureLoc eye care products were linked to severe fungal eye infections".Two class action lawsuits have been filed against Bausch & Lomb in relation to the eye fungus problems.

Diversity

Bausch & Lomb received a 100% rating on theCorporate Equality Indexreleased by theHuman Rights Campaignstarting in 2003, the second year of the report.

Lawsuits

In 1994, several states in the US, includingTexas,opened an investigation against Bausch & Lomb. This investigation was based on the sale of duplicate contact lenses under different names and prices. Three different versions of the same contact lens were being sold under OptimaFW, Medalist lenses, and SeeQuence2. OptimaFW, the most expensive version, was available with a lifetime of one year, The mid-priced, Medalist lenses were sold with a lifetime of three months, and SeeQuence2, the least expensive, came with a lifetime of two to three weeks. By 1996, the company ensured that all three versions carried the OptimaFW tag and tried to standardize the packaging, but the pricing was still different. In 1996, the case was settled for $68 million. In 1997, 17 states pressured Bausch & Lomb to stop the sale of duplicate lenses, deceptive practice stated in the court. The settlement also demanded the company to pay $1.7 million or $100,000 to each state to cover investigative costs.

In 2009, Bausch & Lomb spent $250 million to settle six hundred lawsuits filed by consumers exposed toFusariumkeratitis,afungal infection,after using its contact solution ReNu with MoistureLoc. Between June 2005 and September 2006, one hundred eighty cases were reported, out of which seven patients requiredeye removaland sixty requiredcorneal transplants.

See also

• List of biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the New York metropolitan area

External links

• Official website