Eye care company Bausch + Lomb (BLCO) said Friday it will pay $1.75 billion to acquire a portfolio of eye care products from Swiss healthcare giant Novartis (NVS), in a move that could help the company expand its offering in the treatment of eye diseases.
Key things
- Bausch + Lomb said on Friday it will pay $1.75 billion to acquire a portfolio of eye care products from Swiss healthcare giant Novartis.
- The portfolio includes Xiidra, a popular dry eye treatment, and rights to AccuStream, a drug delivery device used to treat dry eye.
- Of the final purchase price of $2.5 billion, Bausch + Lomb will pay $1.75 billion upfront, with financing from JPMorgan Chase.
The portfolio includes anti-inflammatory eye drops Xiidra, a popular treatment for dry eye disease that Novartis acquired from Takeda Pharmaceuticals for $3.4 billion in 2019. Sales of Xiidra, which is sold mainly in the U.S., reached $487 million last year.
Bausch + Lomb will also acquire the rights to use AccuStream, a drug delivery device for the treatment of dry eye. Dry eye disease affects up to 344 million people worldwide, including about 20 million in the United States, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Of the final purchase price of $2.5 billion, Bausch + Lomb will pay $1.75 billion upfront, with financing from JPMorgan Chase. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2023 and “will be effective immediately,” the company said in a statement.
YCharts
Shares of Bausch + Lomb rose 8% in early trading Friday on the news, but pared some gains later in the day and were up 4% as of 3 p.m. ET. So far this year, it has increased by almost 29%. Novartis shares traded 1.5% higher on Friday afternoon, up 11% year-to-date.