Bausch & Lomb
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| Bausch & Lomb Inc. | |
|---|---|
| Image:Bausch and Lomb logo.png | |
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 1853 |
| Headquarters | Rochester, New York, USA |
| Key people | Ronald L. Zarrella, Chairman & CEO Efrain Rivera, CFO John Jacob Bausch, Co-Founder Henry Lomb, Co-Founder |
| Industry | Medical instruments & Supplies |
| Products | ReNu, PureVision |
| Revenue | Image:Green Arrow Up Darker.svg$2.29 Billion USD (2006) |
| Net income | Image:Green Arrow Up Darker.svg$14.9 Million USD (2006) |
| Employees | 13,000 (2007) |
| Website | www.bausch.com |
Bausch & Lomb (NYSE: BOL) 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]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Early years
Bausch & Lomb was founded in 1853 by John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb. Initially, the company manufactured vulcanized rubber eyeglass frames and other precision vision products.[2]
[edit] Growth of the company
During the American Civil War, the blockade caused the price of gold and European horn to rise dramatically. This resulted in a growing demand for the Bausch & Lomb spectacles made from Vulcanite.
In 1876, the company began manufacturing microscopes. Later that year the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company won a distinction at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. The company also produced photographic lenses (1883), spectacle lenses (1889), microtomes (1890), binoculars and telescopes (1893).[3]
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, and camera shutters. During World War I the company produced sunglasses for the American military and also helped fill a demand for binocular telescopes, searchlight mirrors, periscopes and torpedo tube sights.
The company also produced the lenses for cameras which captured the first satellite images of the Moon.[citation needed] In 1971 , it marketed the first soft contact lens.[citation needed]
A new corporate headquarters was constructed in Rochester in 1995 .
[edit] Divestiture and sale
In 1999, Bausch & Lomb sold its high-end sunglasses division, Ray-Ban, which it had founded in 1937, to Luxottica.
In May 2007, the company announced plans to merge with Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm based in New York City. Advanced Medical Optics also announced an interest in the company.[4] In August 2007, B & L terminated talks with Advanced Medical Optics, and has since continued its agreement to merge with Warburg-Pincus.
[edit] Recent events
[edit] 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.[5]
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.[6]
On July 2, 2004, the company announced that it had licensed the intellectual property of Novartis.[7] 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.[7]
[edit] 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) announced there was a high correlation between use of the product and cases of suspected fungal keratitis.[8] The Centers for Disease Control found that "nearly all of the company's ReNu with MoistureLoc (MoistureLoc) eye care products were linked to severe fungal eye infections".[9] Two class action lawsuits have been filed against Bausch & Lomb in relation to the eye fungus problems.[10]
[edit] 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.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ Bausch & Lomb: The Bausch & Lomb story. Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
- ^ A History of Bausch and Lomb (html). nwmangum.com. “Source: Kingslake, Rudolf, 1974, The Rochester Camera and Lens Companies, Rochester NY, Photographic Historical Society.”
- ^ Henry Lomb bio
- ^ Staff and wire reports. "Swirl around B&L deal goes on: There's talk of still other suitors as one likely bidder's stock falls" (html), Democrat and Chronicle, 30 May 2007.
- ^ "Company News: Bausch & Lomb is found guilty of patent infringement", New York Times, 2002-07-27. Retrieved on 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 on 2007-04-19.
- ^ a b "Bausch & Lomb, CIBA Vision reach settlement of patent litigation", The Daily Record (Rochester, NY), 2004-07-07. Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
- ^ "Fusarium Keratitis — Multiple States, 2006", 2006-04-14. Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
- ^ Crane, Mary. "More Recalls Ahead For Bausch & Lomb?", 2006-05-03. Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
- ^ "Eye Fungus Lawsuits Filed: Bausch & Lomb Could Face Class Action Suit Over Lens Solution", Associated Press, 2006-04-20. Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
- ^ Corporate Equality Index (2003). Human Rights Campaign Foundation (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
[edit] External links
- Bausch & Lomb company website
- Bausch & Lomb Championshipsde:Bausch & Lomb
ja:ボシュロム pl:Bausch & Lomb ru:Bausch & Lomb zh:博士伦
