Specialist
Former senior executive at Bausch + Lomb Inc
Agenda
- Likely rationale and breakdown of Bausch + Lomb’s (NYSE: BHC) spin-off from Bausch Health (NYSE: BHC) – impact on wider ophthalmology competitive dynamics
- Bausch + Lomb’s surgical portfolio, focusing on US market positioning vs players such as Alcon (NYSE: ALC) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)
- Surgical portfolio quality, including IOLs (intraocular lenses) and potential pipeline launches
- Mid-term company outlook including potential R&D investment and rising threat of Carl Zeiss (ETR: AFX)
Questions
1.
What is being split up and included in Bausch + Lomb’s upcoming IPO?
2.
How should we think about pent-up demand as a tailwind in the ophthalmic market? How much do you think Bausch + Lomb could benefit from this pent-up demand and how long might it last?
3.
How much more competitive will Bausch + Lomb be in the ophthalmology market as it moves towards being a pure-play ophthalmology player, as we observe with Alcon? What is your competitive outlook for Bausch + Lomb?
4.
How might having two pure-play ophthalmology players – Alcon and Bausch + Lomb – shift the market dynamics in the mid-to-long-term?
5.
How can we think about Bausch + Lomb’s position within the European market? How might that differ to the US market? What is your short-to-medium-term outlook for both regions?
6.
Could you give an overview of Bausch + Lomb’s portfolio, concentrating on surgical? What are the key growth drivers or products within that portfolio?
7.
What are your thoughts on Bausch + Lomb’s phacoemulsification machine Stellaris? How competitive is that? What are its unique or differentiating features?
8.
How successful is Bausch + Lomb’s Stellaris at winning market share? It is a tough market to win share in, as you said, especially against a player such as Alcon with its Centurion. You highlighted the key headwind is that surgeons haven’t been using the Stellaris and it’s more of a personal piece of equipment. How should we think about headwinds vs key competitors such as J&J with its Whitestar?
9.
How competitively can Bausch + Lomb drive sales through bundling? How well can the company bundle the different parts of the business – consumer, pharmaceutical and surgical – as it spins?
10.
How competitive is Bausch + Lomb’s surgical bundling vs competitors such as Alcon and J&J?
11.
How should we think about pricing pressure? You mentioned a decrease in pricing as competitiveness increases. What is your short-to-mid-term outlook here?
12.
Could you give an overview of Bausch + Lomb’s femtosecond laser offering? How competitive is it and how might it compare to the competitors?
13.
How can Bausch + Lomb drive further uptake of the Victus femtosecond laser over the short-to-medium-term? How much of a barrier is this user interface for the Victus?
14.
You mentioned premium IOLs [intra-ocular lenses] and I understand Bausch + Lomb currently doesn’t have an FDA-approved premium IOL. How much of a disadvantage is this? How can the company be competitive in this market and perhaps drive more market share vs a player such as Alcon?
15.
How much of a competitive threat would Carl Zeiss be if it enters the market’s IOL segment?
16.
How might Bausch + Lomb’s 10% market share trend if Zeiss became more of a competitive threat? How much could Zeiss take away from Bausch + Lomb over the next 3-5 years?
17.
How would you compare Bausch + Lomb’s commercial team and strategy vs Alcon or J&J? You mentioned the company has done a fairly good job leveraging and establishing key relationships with KOLs.
18.
How might supply chain issues, raw material shortages and labour inflation impact margins for players such as Bausch + Lomb? Alcon said recently that it’s putting through price increases in 2022 to mitigate against these factors. How likely is it that Bausch + Lomb will do something similar? How might this impact the wider ophthalmology sector?
19.
How much of the price increase might be passed onto the customer or absorbed by the bottom line?
20.
How should we think about Bausch + Lomb’s R&D investment? Is there likely to be a bump there? You mentioned a need for innovation or investment. How fundamental is that for longer-term growth opportunities and where do we need to observe that investment?
21.
Are there any particular players on the market that could make sense for Bausch + Lomb to acquire?
22.
Where is the downside to Bausch + Lomb’s eye health business as a standalone unit? The company now has a full-service eye health business with refractive, surgical, IOL, consumer diagnostics and so on. What, if anything, is worth highlighting as a weakness?
