ROCHESTER, N.Y.—When Brent Saunders took over the reins as chief executive officer of Bausch + Lomb in March, he got a crash course in the workings of the 157-year-old eyecare giant. The new CEO quickly decided that sharpening the company’s focus on its customers would be a key priority.

“B+L has a strong focus on eye health, and expertise in a wide breadth of areas,” Saunders told VM in an exclusive interview. “But we needed to do a better job in the area of customer focus.”

So far in his tenure, Saunders and his team have worked to improve that focus on the customer in a number of areas, he said. For example, “We need to make sure that our front-line salespeople are aware of their importance and feel supported,” Saunders noted. In addition, “the company is working to bring innovation and value to our professional partners, both optometrists and ophthalmologists, and to make sure they view us as a value-added supplier that provides them with both products and solutions.”

For ODs in particular, B+L is working through its cataract surgery division to build a stronger network of optometrists for referrals. On the contact lens side, the company strives to increase CL penetration by helping to spur consumer interest in the category.

BRENT SAUNDERS

“Contact lens penetration in the U.S. is about 18 percent—we need to grow that to 25 percent, which would be a win for both the eyecare practitioners and the vendors,” Saunders declared. “We’re working to do that by bringing [in] better products, not just in the area of comfort, but through better optical designs so the wearer can see better.”

Saunders, who came to B+L after years as a senior executive with pharmaceutical firm Schering-Plough, said that while some innovative new products are already in the company’s pipeline, he is not averse to looking beyond B+L for good ideas as well.

“We are committed to investing in innovation, and we’re very open to finding that innovation from outside sources, through possible acquisitions and/or collaborations,” Saunders told VM.

When it comes to new CL designs specifically, “you can innovate with new optical design or new materials,” Saunders said. He acknowledged, “B+L remains a leader in optical design, but has lagged on the material side, however, we’re working right now on new ideas in both areas. Some will be small advances, others will be game-changers.”

The company plans what its CEO called “incremental” CL introductions later this year, with larger launches slated for late in 2011.

In addition, B+L will continue to focus on consumer-related eye health issues, such as the pediatric cataract initiative it unveiled at the recent Optometry’s Meeting.

Going forward, B+L will also implement a stronger cohesion between its various business units.“We are definitely looking to get more efficient and more effective,” he said. ■ ■

—Cathy Ciccolella

cciccolella@jobson.com