Bausch + Lomb replaces Brent Saunders as shares drop 7%

Bausch + Lomb said on October 12 that chief executive Brent Saunders is stepping down under a mutual arrangement with the board, and its US-listed stock fell more than 7 percent, Reuters reported.

Thomas Appio, the company's chairman, took the top job on an interim basis immediately. He will keep running Bausch Health, which holds roughly 87 percent of the eye-care business, while overseeing both.

Saunders came back to the company in 2023, having run it once before between 2010 and 2013. He also led Allergan through its $63 billion takeover by AbbVie in 2020.

Analysts at Citi called the change abrupt in its timing but said Appio's earlier roles at the company prepare him for the job. Leerink analysts said the unexpected switch at the top may pressure the shares while shareholders watch what Bausch Health intends to do with its holding, though they described the eye-care business as on "strong fundamental footing."

Bausch Health took Bausch + Lomb public in 2022 while keeping control, and an effort to sell the stake concluded without an agreement in 2025.

Both companies said preliminary third-quarter figures should allow them to lift their 2026 guidance for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, excluding acquired research and development costs. Bausch + Lomb currently projects $1.025 billion to $1.075 billion for the year.

This story was first reported by The Manila Times.