The Quebec pharmaceutical Valeant has acquired Bausch + Lomb, the global leader in eye health, for $8.7 billion.

 

Half of the payment will go directly to the investor group led by Warburg Pincus, which bought B + L in 2007 for $4.5 billion, while the other half will be used to repay B + L’s outstanding debt. To finance the acquisition, Valeant will issue $2 billion in new equity and borrow the rest.

 

Valeant will integrate its ophthalmology businesses into the new division, which will retain the name Bausch + Lomb. The pharmaceutical company expects to achieve $800 million in cost savings by 2014. B + L distributes such products as Vision Care, ONEday, PureVision, along with the Besivance, Lotemax, and Ocuvite treatments.

 

There have been rumours for months that Bausch + Lomb was being sold, but when it came time to discuss potential buyers, names like Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson, and Sanofi, even Merck & Co and Pfizer, were frontrunners, as ClipInfo.ca reported on January 8, 2013. More recently, in February, Warburg Pincus was considering the initial public offering route to unload B + L, saying it was disappointed in the bids it had received.

 

Source: http://ir.valeant.com/investor-relations/news-releases/news-release-details/2013/Valeant-Pharmaceuticals-International-Inc-To-Acquire-Bausch–Lomb-For-87-Billion/default.aspx

Novartis, a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company, recently released new data to support the effectiveness and safety of its flagship ophthalmological drug, Lucentis.

 

At the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting, recently held in Vienna, Austria, Novartis presented the results from the REPAIR study, conducted over a year on British patients. They show that with an average of 9.7 injections of Lucentis over a five-year period, blindness attributable to AMD could be reduced by 59%.

 

The study also found that visual acuity improved in patients with myopic choroidal neovascularization, with an average of 3.6 injections.

 

Moreover, data from 22 studies support the evidence that the drug is safe, which still needs to be confirmed by a five-year, global study involving 30,000 patients.

 

In 2012, Novartis achieved net sales of $2.4 billion with Lucentis, and Roche, which distributes it in the United States, recorded earnings of $1.56 billion.

Source: http://www.bilan.ch/awp/novartis-presente-de-nouvelles-donnees-sur-lefficacite-du-lucentis-7

Essilor has signed a licensing agreement with Safilo for the design, manufacture, and worldwide distribution by Essilor of polarized ophthalmic lenses under the Polaroid brand.

 

The 10-year agreement between the French and Italian optics giants has Essilor CEO Hubert Sagnières enthusiastic. “The strength of the Polaroid brand is a key lever in drawing people’s attention on the importance of protecting their eyes from the sun and in growing the polarized category within the mainstream consumer segment. This new collaboration will allow us to bring together Essilor’s strong know-how and leadership in ophthalmic lenses with Polaroid’s strong recognition on polarization,” said Sagnières.

 

According to Essilor, the market for polarized lenses only represents 20% of the total sun market in the world today.

 

Roberto Vedovotto, CEO of Safilo, considers the project “an extraordinary opportunity for Polaroid not only to confirm its credibility and worthiness as a reference brand for the protection and improvement of eyesight, but also to extend its application to eyesight correction.”

Sources: http://www.essilor.com/en/Press/News/Documents/2013/Essilor_Safilo_licencing_agreement_polaroid_EN.pdf

http://www.safilo.com/en/PR_2013-05-21_safilo-announces-a-licensing-agreement-with-essilor-for-polaroid-branded-polarized-ophthalmic-lenses

Two new studies raise questions about the impact of certain nutritional supplements on eye health.

 

The second portion of the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS 2), involving more than 4,000 Americans between the ages of 50 and 85 who were at risk for developing AMD, examined the impact of changes to the AREDS formulation. The diet prescribes daily high doses of vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, and the minerals zinc and copper, to slow the progression of AMD. The researchers measured the impact of adding omega-3 fatty acids, removing beta-carotene or reducing zinc.

 

Adding omega-3 fatty acids did not increase the diet’s benefits, and reducing zinc did not affect its effectiveness; however, removing beta-carotene, which is associated with lung cancer in smokers, increased protection. Furthermore, the researchers confirmed that the formulation did not prevent cataracts.

 

To do that, it might be better to consider… pine bark extract. In another study, American researchers discovered that cataracts can be treated with dietary pycnogenol, which has a positive effect on eye lenses and no negative short-term impact.

 

Sources: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130506095619.htm

 http://communications.uwo.ca/com/media_newsroom/media_newsroom_stories/western_researchers_confirm_pine_bark_extract_could_reduce_cataract_risk_20130424447970/

 

Essilor has acquired a majority stake in EyeBuyDirect.com, a leading online optical retailer with a presence in the United States, China, and Hong Kong.

 

In 2010, Essilor acquired a majority stake in FramesDirect.com. The French giant then relied on FramesDirect to start up the MyOnlineOptical.com platform in the United States, offering eyecare professionals a tool to create an online retail business for themselves.

 

Marc Tersigni, president of Essilor Canada, explains that his company bought EyeBuyDirect.com to relaunch the platform, enabling eyecare professionals who use it to compete in the e-commerce arena, where a tough price war is raging.

 

The platform is not available yet in Canada. “Before launching such a product here, we want to make sure that it will be well received by our clients and is compliant with Canadian legislation, which is different from U.S. legislation,” explains Marc Tersigni. “We think that the platform may be the right vehicle to encourage sales growth for eyecare professionals. However, our priority is still to support the establishment of storefront practices and to ensure Canadian patients receive the best possible care,” he adds.