Bausch and Lomb are one of the longest continually operating companies in the United States. John Jacob Bausch, a German immigrant opened a small optical goods store in Rochester, New York later borrowing $60 from his friend Henry Lomb on the promise that if the business grew Lomb would become a full partner. Bausch and Lomb began manufacturing a revolutionary rubber eyeglass frame and a variety of high precision manufactured optical products. By 1903 patents had been applied and granted for binoculars, microscope and even a camera shutter based on the mechanism of the eye. Bausch and Lomb produced the first optical grade glass in the United States and developed advanced sunglasses for military use in World War I, they even created the lenses used in taking the first satellite photographs of the moon. By 1971 Bausch and Lomb had introduced the first soft contact lenses and today remain the worlds largest provider of eye care products.
More information about Bausch And Lomb
Bausch & Lomb is a self described eye health company based in Rochester New York with an excellent global
reputation and is one of the world's top manufacturers of prescription contact lenses, and lens care products
which are available widely in pharmacies and general retail stores across the United States and the rest of the world. Jacob Bausch who
founded the company in 1835 was actually a trained optician. The company has sold a variety of optical
devices over the many years of the its existence which include binoculars, microscopes, glasses, as
well as lenses for movie cameras.
The company sells their lens products globally and coordinates its operations from Rochester, New York and is
very active in the research and development of contact lenses, as well as other eye care products. With over
13,000 employees, the company is able to sell their products in over one hundred countries, and made 2.7
billion dollars in sales in 2007. Besides the vision care sector of the company that works on contact lenses
and contact lens solutions, a pharmaceutical branch of Bausch & Lomb researches medications for eye diseases,
such as seasonal allergies, irritation, and glaucoma, conjunctivitis as well as disease of the retina.
While some of Bausch and Lomb's contact lenses must be changed every day, their newest product, part of the the
PureVision
line are able to remain in the eye for up to 30 days. Bausch and Lomb also devotes resources to
developing surgical eye products used in operations for cataracts, as well as implantable lenses which can
be used to correct vision in patients who are unsuitable candidates for laser eye surgery. Other medical devices,
such as lasers, used for laser eye surgery are also developed and sold by Bausch & Lomb. As the United States
population ages, Bausch and Lomb stands to profit from the treatment of age related eye conditions such as cataracts.
Recently, Bausch and Lomb opened a new 30,000 square foot pharmaceutical headquarters in Madison, New Jersey,
which should create 70 new jobs. Executives say that the decision to place their pharmaceutical headquarters
in New Jersey will allow the company to work on new ventures by partnering with some of the large number of
other pharmaceutical companies present in New Jersey. Bausch and Lomb is currently working on plans to bring
to market a new eye drop medication for bacterial conjunctivitis, Besivance, which was recently approved by the FDA.
