Bausch Boosted by CDC Report
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report Friday that backed Bausch & Lomb Inc.’s decision to recall its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution, which has been linked to cases of a serious eye infection.
But the CDC analysis of reported cases of Fusarium keratitis -- a fungal infection that can lead to blindness -- gave Bausch & Lomb’s battered stock a lift as it found no statistically significant link to reported cases of the infection involving its other contact lens solutions.
“The analysis does not indicate that these products are associated with significantly increased risk for disease,” the CDC said.
Bausch & Lomb, whose shares rose more than 3%, said the CDC report should restore confidence in its other lens-care products, which had been under increasing scrutiny since the Fusarium keratitis cases surfaced, with many optometrists advising patients to avoid all Bausch lens solutions.
“The CDC’s conclusion that the MoistureLoc formulation was the only product with a statistically significant association with reports of Fusarium keratitis in the cases they have evaluated should put to rest any further speculation that other products may also be implicated,” Bausch & Lomb Chief Executive Ronald Zarrella said in a statement.
Piper Jaffray analyst Steven Hamill said investors appeared to be encouraged by the CDC’s conclusions.
“It kind of takes away the last question mark on where the government is going to stand on this issue,” Hamill said.
Bausch & Lomb shares rose nearly 4.5% on Friday before paring their gains to close up $1.75, or 3.6%, at $50.05.
Its shares hit a 52-week low May 4 of $41.04 as more cases of infection emerged. In mid-March the shares were trading for about $67.
The majority of confirmed cases of the rare infection in contact lens users have been linked to ReNu with MoistureLoc.
Of 130 patients with confirmed cases in the United States, the CDC said 118 were able to identify which contact lens solution they had used over the previous month, and 64% of them reported using only MoistureLoc.
Bausch announced a complete recall of ReNu with MoistureLoc this week. It had pulled the product in the United States last month and from parts of Asia this year after it was linked to the fungal infections.
The Food and Drug Administration has said the Fusarium outbreak appears to be related to the design and use of Bausch’s ReNu with MoistureLoc formula rather than contamination of the product.
