Bausch & Lomb
 | This article may be unbalanced toward certain viewpoints. |
| Bausch & Lomb logo | |
| Company type | Public NYSE: BOL |
|---|---|
| Industry | Medical Instruments & Supplies |
| Founded | 1853 |
| Headquarters | Rochester, New York, USA |
Key people | Ronald L. Zarrella, Chairman & CEO Efrain Rivera, CFO John Jacob Bausch, Founder |
| Products | ReNu, PureVision |
| Revenue |  $2.29 Billion USD (2006) |
| $14.9 Million USD (2006) | |
Number of employees | 13,000 (2007) |
| Website | www.bausch.com |
Bausch & Lomb is an American company based in Rochester, New York, specializing in eye health products such as contact lenses, lens care products and eye surgery devices and instruments. The company was founded in 1853 by two Germans, John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb.[1] The company currently has approximately 14,000 employess and posts multi-billion dollar annual revenue.
The company currently markets five categories of products:
1. Contact Lenses: under the Pure Vision, Softlens, Boston, and Optima brands.
2. Lens Care: under the Renu, Sensitive Eyes, and Boston brands.
3. Pharmaceuticals: under the Lotemax, Alrex, Zylet, Retisert, Vitrasert, Carteol, Minims, Liposic, Ocuvite, PreserVision, and Advanced Eye Relief brands.
4. Cartaract and Viteoretinal Surgery: under the Soft port, Akreos, Millenium, and Storz brands.
5. Refractive Surgery: under the Zyoptix (customized LASIK) and Hansatome brands.
History
Bausch & Lomb was founded in 1853 by John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb. Initially, the company manufactured rubber eyeglasses frames and other precision vision products.[1]
By the year 1903 the company began manufacturing microscopes, binoculars, and camera shutters.
The company produced the first optical quality glass in America during the early to mid 1900s.
During WWI the company produced sunglasses for the American military.
The company also produced the lenses for cameras that captured the first satellite images of the Moon.
Bausch & Lomb marketed the first soft contact lens in 1971.
A new corporate headquarter building was constructed in 1995.
The company sold off its designer sun glass and eye frame buisness Ray-Ban in 1999.
PureVision
Bausch & Lomb was in a lawsuit with Novartis which claimed to have patents on a Bausch & Lomb product called PureVision. On June 26, 2002 a federal judge ruled that Bausch & Lomb did infringe on CIBA Vision (a subsidiary of Novartis) patents.[2]
On August 2, 2002 Bausch & Lomb announced its intention to move the production from the United States to Ireland after a federal appeals court denied the company's request to continue making and selling its contact lenses in the US while it appeals a decision in the patent lawsuit.[3]
On July 2, 2004 the company announced that it had licensed the intellectual property of Novartis.[4] 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.[4]
CEO biography error
In October 2002, it was found that a press release detailing the education history of Ronald Zarella, the Bausch & Lomb Chief Executive Officer, was false.[5] It was claimed that Zarella had graduated from business school. He did attend, but did not graduate.
ReNu
On April 11, 2006, Bausch & Lomb stopped shipments of its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) a high correlation between use of the product and cases of suspected fungal keratitis.[6] The Centers for Disease Control found that "nearly all of of the company's ReNu with MoistureLoc (MoistureLoc) eye care products were linked to severe fungal eye infections".[7] Two class action lawsuits have been filed against Bausch & Lomb in relation to the eye fungus problems.[8]
Diversity
Bausch & Lomb received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2003, the second year of the report.[9]
References
- ^ a b "Bausch & Lomb: The Bausch & Lomb story". Retrieved 2007-04-19.
- ^ "Company News: Bausch & Lomb is found guilty of patent infringement". New York Times. 2002-07-27. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
- ^ "Bausch and Lomb moves production of contact lens to Ireland: company appeals series of court decisions; forecasts lower revenues as result of ruling, transfer". Opthamology Times. September, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "Bausch & Lomb, CIBA Vision reach settlement of patent litigation". The Daily Record (Rochester, NY). 2004-07-07. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
- ^ Levine, Greg (2002-10-21). "Faces In The News: Oct. 21, 2002". Forbes. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
- ^ "Fusarium Keratitis — Multiple States, 2006". 2006-04-14. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
- ^ Crane, Mary (2006-05-03). "More Recalls Ahead For Bausch & Lomb?". Retrieved 2007-04-19.
- ^ "Eye Fungus Lawsuits Filed: Bausch & Lomb Could Face Class Action Suit Over Lens Solution". Associated Press. 2006-04-20. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
- ^ "Corporate Equality Index (2003)". Human Rights Campaign Foundation. 2003. Retrieved 2007-04-19.