Eye-care company Bausch + Lomb Corp. is expected to name
Brent Saunders
as chief executive officer and chairman of its board, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Saunders would succeed
Joseph Papa,
who had said last July that he would step down from his roles running the company and serving on its board. The leadership change could be announced as soon as Wednesday, the people said.
Under the plans, Mr. Saunders would take the helm of the company on March 6, after serving in an advisory role starting Thursday to help with the transition, the people said.
The move would begin Mr. Saunders’s second stint leading Bausch + Lomb, which he ran from 2010 to 2013 before its sale to
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International
for $8.7 billion in 2013.
Bausch + Lomb is in the process of being spun out of a larger healthcare firm,
Cos., which was fashioned out of Valeant.
In his new role, Mr. Saunders would take charge of one of the significant names in eye care, serving a multibillion-dollar market that has been growing rapidly.
The worldwide market for prescription eye drugs alone exceeds $33 billion and is increasing more than 7% annually, according to Grand View Research.
Mr. Saunders would have to steer Bausch + Lomb as it navigates competition from big rivals such as
Alcon Inc.
and Johnson & Johnson, as well as generic drugmakers.
Last May, Bausch + Lomb raised $630 million in an IPO, short of its expectations, though it took place during a turbulent time for the stock market.
Founded in 1853, Bausch + Lomb introduced Ray-Ban sunglasses and brought to market the first mass-produced soft contact lens and among the first contact-lens solutions.
Today, it sells a variety of eye-care products, including surgery devices, contact lenses and eye drops. It also sells prescription drugs such as the glaucoma treatment Vyzulta.
The Vaughan, Ontario, company reported sales of $2.8 billion through the first nine months of 2022. Roughly half of the sales came from outside the U.S. The company has more than 12,000 employees.
Mr. Saunders, 53 years old, has served as chairman of
Beauty Health Co.
since May 2021. The Long Beach, Calif., company sells a delivery device for skin and hair treatments.
Before then, he had held leadership roles at several large pharmaceutical companies and was known for his deal making. He ran Allergan, which sold Botox as well as eye products, before it was acquired by
AbbVie Inc.
in 2020 for $63 billion.
Write to Jared S. Hopkins at jared.hopkins@wsj.com
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