Brent Saunders ejects from Bausch + Lomb once again

Brent Saunders' second stint as chief executive of eye care company Bausch + Lomb has come to an end.

He is stepping down immediately from the role – by mutual agreement with the board of directors – and will be replaced as CEO on an interim basis by Bausch + Lomb's chairman Thomas Appio, who also serves as CEO of parent company Bausch Health.

Saunders' latest spell as CEO started in 2023, as Bausch Health worked to spin Bausch + Lomb out as an independent public company, and was marked by an aggressive turnaround plan that hinged on a shift towards greater investment in ophthalmic pharmaceuticals alongside its core presence in contact lenses and vision care products.

His return to the company came a decade after his first stint as CEO, which started in 2010, and came to a close four years later, once again after a prolonged period of restructuring and a push towards more R&D-intensive activities. He departed in 2013 when Valeant Pharma acquired the company and rebranded as Bausch Health.

Saunders later became CEO of Actavis and then Allergan, before moving on once again when the latter was acquired by AbbVie in a $63 billion takeover that closed in 2020.

The change at the top of Bausch + Lomb comes a few months after it had a hole blown in its pharma pipeline with a failed phase 3 trial for a glaucoma candidate – BL1107 – that it had said could become an $800 million-a-year product.

"When I returned to Bausch + Lomb, I believed this company had tremendous potential," said Saunders, who hasn't yet revealed his future plans. "Today, it is stronger, more focused and better positioned for the future, with a clearer strategy, a more robust pipeline and significant opportunities ahead."

From a pharma perspective, that pipeline includes a sustained-release implant formulation of BL1107 for geographic atrophy (GA), partnered with Ripple Therapeutics, along with candidates for dry eye disease and ocular surface pain that it has previously suggested could have collective peak sales potential of more than $2 billion.

Appio, who has been chair of Bausch + Lomb's board since August and CEO of Bausch Health since 2022, said: "Our company is built on the strength of our people, the quality of our portfolio and a relentless commitment to serving customers and patients around the world. With a strong foundation, we are well positioned to build on our momentum and deliver sustainable growth."