Specialist
Former Director at Bausch + Lomb Inc
Agenda
- Recent trends and developments in the global eyecare market
- Spin-off of Bausch + Lomb from Bausch Health (TSE: BHC) and standalone business analysis
- R&D efforts to drive innovation in surgical business and IOL (intraocular lens) offerings
- Competitive positioning vs Alcon, Carl Zeiss and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), highlighting clinician relationships and product bundling ability
- 2022 outlook – strategic assessments and turnaround potential
Questions
1.
What are the most important trends and developments you’ve been following in the optical manufacturing
market over the past 12 months or so?
2.
How has Bausch + Lomb’s story evolved over the past several years?
3.
To what extent are macro supply chain disruptions impacting optical manufacturers? Are you noticing any
operational challenges, supply shortages or price increases? How detrimental are these disruptions to a player
such as Bausch + Lomb?
4.
What can Bausch do to mitigate some of the short-term headwinds you mentioned? How much of the price
increases can be passed on to customers or other entities vs being absorbed by the bottom line?
5.
Could you discuss some historical challenges Bausch + Lomb has faced in its ophthalmic business? Why
has the company not enjoyed the same success as competitors such as Alcon and Johnson & Johnson?
6.
What are your thoughts on Bausch + Lomb’s spin-off from Bausch Health? What’s the likely strategic
rationale here and how positive are you on its prospects as a standalone entity?
7.
Is there any downside to Bausch + Lomb separating from Bausch Health? Might the company lose any
operational synergies from decoupling?
8.
Do you think Bausch + Lomb could be broken up further? Could a competitor be interested in acquiring
ancillary segments such as surgical or diagnostics? Could you outline the scenario implications here?
9.
How do you assess Bausch + Lomb’s sales force and commercial efforts to drive revenues in its surgical
business? How does it compare to competitors on go-to-market strategy and capturing new business?
10.
You mentioned the importance of clinician and surgical relationships. Could you expand on how critical
clinician education is to commercial execution? Why do you think Bausch + Lomb has had less success in this
area compared to a player such as Alcon?
11.
What might an overhaul of Bausch’s sales force look like? What investment would be needed to improve on
some of these deficiencies and how do you assess the company’s execution prospects as a standalone entity?
12.
To what extent can Bausch further optimise product bundling or volume discounts to maximise revenues?
How do you assess the company’s efforts here?
13.
How are you assessing Bausch’s R&D and innovation efforts? Where do you expect most of the capital
spend to be deployed post-spin-off? What’s the opportunity in developing a premium IOL [intraocular lens]
product?
14.
How operationally lean is Bausch + Lomb currently? What low-hanging fruit, perhaps in surgical or other
segments, could be targeted to reduce costs and preserve margins?
15.
Could you do a deeper dive on Bausch + Lomb’s competitiveness in IOLs against names such as Alcon,
Johnson & Johnson and others? How do you assess their relative product offerings, commercialisation efforts,
clinician relationships and market shares?
16.
Could you compare Bausch’s refractive offerings vs those of Carl Zeiss and others?
17.
How do the competitive dynamics differ in Europe? Bausch has conceded ample market in the EU,
particularly in IOL. Why do you think this has been the case and how might its positioning shift over the next
year or so in Europe?
18.
What are your thoughts on the lawsuit announced earlier in December 2021 accusing Bausch + Lomb of
alleged monopolisation in the eye health supplement market?
19.
What are your thoughts on Bausch + Lomb’s leadership and management? Does the company have the
right team in place to turn around the business as a standalone unit?
20.
Is there anything else you’d like to mention about Bausch + Lomb?
