Bausch + Lomb Corporation

What does Bausch + Lomb own?
Bausch + Lomb owns a portfolio of approximately 400 eye health products across three segments. Vision Care includes contact lens brands (ULTRA, INFUSE, Biotrue One Day, SofLens) and lens care solutions (ReNu, Biotrue). Pharmaceuticals includes Lumify, Alrex, Lotemax, Zirgan, and Vyzulta. Surgical includes Crystalens, SofPort, and Akreos intraocular lenses and Stellaris surgical systems. The company has a presence in approximately 100 countries.

Is Bausch + Lomb publicly traded?
Yes. Bausch + Lomb Corporation trades on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BLCO. The company began trading on May 6, 2022, following an IPO that separated the eye health business from Bausch Health Companies. Bausch + Lomb files its own annual report (Form 10-K) with the SEC. Bausch Health retains approximately 88 percent of its shares.

Who founded Bausch + Lomb?
Bausch + Lomb was founded in 1853 in Rochester, New York, by John Jacob Bausch, an optician, and Henry Lomb, a financial backer. Both were German immigrants. Bausch opened a small optical goods store and borrowed $60 from Lomb to expand the business. The company is one of the oldest continually operating eye care companies in the world, with 173 years of history as of 2026.

What is Bausch + Lomb's revenue?
Bausch + Lomb reported 2025 total revenue of $5,101 million, up 6 percent from $4,791 million in 2024. The Vision Care segment contributed $2,923 million (57 percent), Pharmaceuticals contributed $1,284 million (25 percent), and Surgical contributed $894 million (approximately 18 percent). The company provided 2026 revenue guidance of $5.375 to $5.475 billion.

Where is Bausch + Lomb headquartered?
Bausch + Lomb is headquartered at 520 Applewood Crescent, Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, L4K 4B4. The company's historical and operational base remains in Rochester, New York, where it conducts significant contact lens manufacturing and research and development, employing more than 1,000 people.

What was the ReNu with MoistureLoc recall?
In 2006, Bausch + Lomb voluntarily withdrew ReNu with MoistureLoc lens care solution from the market after it was linked to an increased risk of Fusarium fungal keratitis, a serious eye infection. The company faced litigation and settled numerous claims. The product was discontinued. This event occurred before the company was acquired by Valeant (later Bausch Health) in 2013.

What is the ONE by ONE Recycling Program?
The ONE by ONE Recycling Program is a contact lens and eye care product recycling program operated in partnership with TerraCycle. It is described as the first and only such program in the United States. Participants bring used contact lenses, blister packs, lens cases, and eye drop containers to participating eye care practices. As of November 2025, the program had collected over 690,000 pounds of used eye health products.

Bausch + Lomb was founded in 1853 in Rochester, New York, by John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb. Bausch, an optician and German immigrant, opened a small optical goods store. He borrowed $60 from his friend Henry Lomb, a cabinet maker, to expand the business, sealing the partnership with a handshake. Both men were German immigrants who had come to America seeking opportunity.

The company struggled in its early years due to low sales and high supply costs. A turning point came when Bausch found a piece of vulcanized rubber on a Rochester street and conceived the idea of using rubber for eyeglass frames instead of animal horn or gold. A partnership with a rubber company owned by another German-American family drove significant growth. By the time of its 50th anniversary in 1903, Bausch + Lomb occupied buildings with 190,000 square feet of floor space and employed 1,200 workers, producing almost every variety of optical instrument.

During World War I, Bausch + Lomb was a critical supplier of optical glass and equipment to the U.S. war effort. The company manufactured binoculars, microscopes, rangefinders, and other precision optical instruments for the military. This government work expanded the company's manufacturing capabilities and technical expertise.

Through the first half of the 20th century, Bausch + Lomb built a reputation as one of the world's leading optical companies. The company produced microscopes, telescopes, spectrophotometers, and other scientific instruments alongside its eyeglass and ophthalmic product lines.

The company's entry into contact lenses came through a landmark acquisition. In 1965, Bausch + Lomb acquired the patent for hydrogel contact lenses created by Czech scientists Otto Wichterle and Drahoslav Lim. Wichterle had developed the first soft contact lens using polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate (Poly-HEMA) in the late 1950s, producing lenses using a homemade apparatus built from a Merkur children's building set and a bicycle dynamo. After three years of development work and two years for FDA medical approval, with an investment of three million dollars, Bausch + Lomb launched SofLens contact lenses in 1971. SofLens was the first mass-produced soft contact lens in the United States, and it transformed the contact lens industry by making soft lenses widely available.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, Bausch + Lomb became one of the dominant contact lens and lens care companies globally. The company expanded its soft lens product range, developed rigid gas permeable lenses, and launched the ReNu multipurpose solution line, which became one of the most widely used lens care products. Bausch + Lomb also expanded into intraocular lenses and surgical equipment for ophthalmology.

In 2006, Bausch + Lomb faced a significant crisis when it voluntarily withdrew ReNu with MoistureLoc lens care solution from the market after the product was linked to an increased risk of Fusarium fungal keratitis, a serious eye infection. The company faced litigation and settled numerous claims related to the incident. This event damaged the company's reputation and preceded a period of corporate change.

In 2013, Bausch + Lomb was acquired by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International for approximately $8.7 billion. Valeant, which later renamed itself Bausch Health Companies in 2018, integrated the eye health business into its portfolio. Under Valeant ownership, Bausch + Lomb's contact lens development continued, though the parent company faced significant scrutiny over its drug pricing practices, accounting methods, and debt levels. Valeant's stock price collapsed in 2015-2016 amid these controversies.

In August 2020, Bausch Health announced plans to separate the eye health business as an independent publicly traded company. The Bausch + Lomb initial public offering was completed on May 6, 2022, with shares beginning trading on the NYSE and TSX under the ticker BLCO. Bausch Health retained the majority of shares, holding approximately 88 percent as of February 2026. The full separation, in which Bausch Health would distribute its remaining Bausch + Lomb shares to Bausch Health shareholders, has not been completed as of August 2026.

Bausch + Lomb marked the 50th anniversary of the SofLens soft contact lens in 2021. The company continues to maintain significant manufacturing and research operations in Rochester, New York, where it employs more than 1,000 people at its North Goodman Street facility.

In 2025, Bausch + Lomb reported total revenue of $5,101 million, up 6 percent from $4,791 million in 2024. Growth came across all three segments. The company provided 2026 revenue guidance of $5.375 to $5.475 billion.

Bausch + Lomb operates the ONE by ONE Recycling Program, described as the first and only contact lens, eye care, and lens care recycling program in the United States. The program, run in partnership with TerraCycle, accepts used contact lenses and blister packs from all brands, contact lens cases, small solution bottles, and eye drop containers. Participants bring materials to official ONE by ONE eye care practice recycling locations. As of November 2025, the program had collected more than 690,000 pounds (approximately 114 million units) of used eye health products.

The company has conducted a contact lens life cycle assessment to prioritize sustainable innovations. Initiatives include replacing printed instructions for use with electronic versions and streamlining packaging content. Bausch + Lomb supports Extended Producer Responsibility reporting through a global packaging database.

The Waterford, Ireland manufacturing facility operates a combined heat and power plant to reduce demand on the electricity grid, capturing waste heat for use in production. The Rochester and Waterford sites received capacity expansion investments announced in 2018 to support daily disposable silicone hydrogel lens production, with attention to sustainable design.

Bausch + Lomb has not announced a formal net-zero emissions target or science-based emissions reduction commitment validated by the Science Based Targets initiative as of August 2026. The company's sustainability reporting focuses on the recycling program, packaging reduction, and manufacturing efficiency.

As a medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturer, Bausch + Lomb is subject to FDA quality system regulations in the United States, CE marking requirements in Europe, and equivalent regulations in other markets. The company's manufacturing facilities are subject to regular regulatory inspections.

Bausch + Lomb's SofLens, launched in 1971, was the first mass-produced soft contact lens in the United States. This product launch is a documented regulatory and industry milestone, having received FDA approval after a two-year review process and a three million dollar investment.

The ONE by ONE Recycling Program has been recognized as the first contact lens recycling program in the United States, operated in partnership with TerraCycle. The program's collection of over 690,000 pounds of used eye health products through November 2025 is a verifiable metric reported by the company.

In the 2026 Forbes Vetted best contact lenses guide, Bausch + Lomb Biotrue One Day lenses were recommended as an affordable daily disposable option. The company's ULTRA and INFUSE lines compete in the premium monthly and daily disposable segments, respectively, though they were not top-ranked in independent 2026 optometrist surveys where Acuvue and Biofinity products dominated.

The most significant historical event was the 2006 ReNu with MoistureLoc recall. Bausch + Lomb voluntarily withdrew the lens care solution from the market after it was linked to an increased risk of Fusarium fungal keratitis, a serious eye infection. The company faced litigation and settled numerous claims. This recall occurred while Bausch + Lomb was still an independent publicly traded company, prior to the Valeant acquisition.

Under Bausch Health ownership, the parent company faced significant scrutiny. Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which acquired Bausch + Lomb in 2013, was the subject of congressional investigations and SEC enforcement actions related to drug pricing and accounting practices. Valeant's stock price collapsed in 2015-2016. These controversies affected the parent company's reputation, though Bausch + Lomb's eye health operations were not the primary focus of the investigations. Valeant renamed itself Bausch Health Companies in 2018.

The incomplete separation from Bausch Health remains a structural consideration. Bausch Health's significant debt load and the delayed full spin-off of Bausch + Lomb have created uncertainty about the timing of the final separation. Bausch Health has stated its intention to distribute its remaining Bausch + Lomb shares to Bausch Health shareholders, but the timing has been subject to market conditions, debt restructuring, and regulatory requirements. Financial media and investor communications have discussed this uncertainty.

As a contact lens and pharmaceutical manufacturer, Bausch + Lomb is subject to FDA quality system regulations and regular facility inspections. No major FDA Warning Letters specific to Bausch + Lomb contact lens manufacturing facilities have been publicly documented in 2024 or 2025, per available FDA records. The company has issued routine voluntary recalls for specific lots when manufacturing deviations are identified.