Bausch Lomb — Business Overview
What does Bausch + Lomb do?
Bausch + Lomb is one of the oldest and most comprehensive eye health companies in the world, selling everything from contact lens solution to surgical equipment for cataracts. Founded in 1853, the company makes and sells roughly 400 products across the full spectrum of eye care — consumer products you can buy off a pharmacy shelf, prescription eye medications, and specialized surgical tools used in operating rooms. With about 13,000 employees and a presence in approximately 100 countries, it positions itself as a one-stop shop for eye health.
The business is organized into three segments:
| Segment | What it sells | 2025 Revenue | % of Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vision Care | Contact lenses, OTC eye drops, lens care solutions, eye vitamins | $2,923M | 57% |
| Pharmaceuticals | Prescription eye drops for dry eye, glaucoma, inflammation, and post-surgical care | $1,284M | 25% |
| Surgical | Cataract surgery equipment, intraocular lenses (IOLs, meaning artificial lenses implanted in the eye), vitreoretinal devices | $894M | 18% |
Total 2025 revenue was $5.1 billion, up from $4.1 billion in 2023 — a roughly 23% increase over two years.
How does Bausch + Lomb make money?
The company earns revenue across three distinct business models that each target a different point in the eye care journey. Vision Care (57% of sales) is the most consumer-facing segment, selling branded products like Biotrue lens solution, Lumify redness-relief drops, and PreserVision eye vitamins through pharmacies and retailers. Contact lenses — including the daily disposable SiHy Daily (sold as INFUSE in some markets) — make up 35% of that segment's revenue, with consumer eye care products accounting for the remaining 65%.
The Pharmaceuticals segment (25% of revenue) relies on prescription products, many of which are protected by patents or regulatory exclusivity. Key recent additions include MIEBO (launched in the U.S. in September 2023 for dry eye disease) and XIIDRA (acquired mid-2023), both targeting the large and growing dry eye market. These branded prescription drugs tend to carry higher margins but face the risk of patent expiration and generic competition over time.
The Surgical segment (18% of revenue) sells both capital equipment and recurring consumables to hospitals and surgery centers. Of its $894M in 2025 revenue, 52% came from consumables (items used and replaced with each procedure), 24% from implantable IOLs, and 24% from equipment like the Stellaris Elite cataract surgery platform. The consumables-heavy mix creates a degree of recurring revenue tied to procedure volumes.
Two distributors — McKesson Corporation and Cardinal Health — each accounted for 10% of total revenues in both 2025 and 2024, meaning roughly 20% of revenue flows through just two wholesale partners.
What market does Bausch + Lomb operate in?
Bausch + Lomb competes in the global eye health market, which spans consumer wellness, specialty pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. The company does not cite a single total addressable market figure in this filing, but the breadth of its portfolio — from vitamin supplements to laser surgery systems — means it touches multiple sub-markets simultaneously.
Several long-term trends are working in favor of this industry. An aging global population drives increased demand for cataract surgery (cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide), glaucoma treatment, and vision correction. Growing rates of myopia (nearsightedness), particularly among younger populations in Asia, supports demand for contact lenses. The dry eye disease market is expanding rapidly, which directly benefits Bausch + Lomb's MIEBO and XIIDRA franchise. Meanwhile, increasing screen time and urbanization are broadly increasing the prevalence of eye conditions worldwide.
Who are Bausch + Lomb's main competitors?
The eye health market is competitive across all three of Bausch + Lomb's segments, with both large diversified companies and focused specialists as rivals. The filing notes competitors include specialty pharmaceutical companies, large medical device companies, biotechnology firms, OTC brands, and generic manufacturers. Notably, the filing does not name specific competitors directly, but the landscape is well understood to include companies like Alcon, Johnson & Johnson Vision, CooperVision, Novartis (Alcon was spun off), and AbbVie (which markets Restasis for dry eye).
Bausch + Lomb's main claimed competitive advantage is the breadth of its portfolio across every category of eye health. Rather than competing in a single niche, the company argues that covering OTC products, prescription drugs, contact lenses, and surgical equipment allows it to build deeper relationships with eye care professionals — who can buy across categories — and with patients throughout their lives. It also points to over 60 active R&D projects, approximately 900 R&D staff, and roughly 2,499 granted patents globally as indicators of its innovation capacity.
Where does Bausch + Lomb operate?
Bausch + Lomb has a genuinely global footprint in both manufacturing and sales, with meaningful exposure across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. It manufactures the majority of its products at 25 facilities across 11 countries, including the United States, Ireland, China, Germany, France, and Italy. About 37% of product sales in 2025 involved third-party manufacturers for at least part of production.
Its roughly 13,000 employees are spread worldwide, with no single region dominating. The breakdown: approximately 4,900 in the United States, 3,400 in Europe (excluding Ireland), 2,200 in Asia-Pacific, 1,500 in Ireland, 400 in Latin America, and 400 in Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. The Russia/CIS presence is worth flagging — geopolitical instability in that region could affect operations, though the filing does not quantify revenue from those markets specifically.
The company explicitly flags that a significant portion of revenue comes from outside the U.S. and Canada, and acknowledges the associated risks. These include currency fluctuations, varying regulatory regimes, trade tariffs, and potential for political instability or government price controls — the last of which is particularly relevant to pharmaceutical pricing in markets like the EU.