B+L to Manufacture Zeus CLs Stateside

"State and federal leaders praised a decision by Bausch + Lomb Inc. to manufacture a new line of contact lenses in Rochester, " says the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. "In joint announcements Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Valeant Pharmaceuticals International reversed an earlier decision to manufacture B+L's Zeus silicon hydrogel monthly contact lens line in Ireland....The deal comes just months after B+L was bought by Valeant, a Canadian firm, and announced it would lay off 400 workers locally. It also moved the company headquarters from Rochester to New Jersey. According to Cuomo's office, the deal reached with B+L includes a $5.8 million grant from Empire State Development and up to $6.2 million in tax credits from the Excelsior Jobs Program....B+L will install two new manufacturing lines to produce the Zeus lenses, tripling its contact lens manufacturing business here, according to the governor's news release. The company previously had built a pilot line in Rochester that it intended to replicate overseas. The new contact lens received FDA approval earlier in the fall and is expected to be available commercially next year." Read more.