07.22.21
Rank: #17 (Last year: #16)
$6.76 Billion
Prior Fiscal: $7.36 billion
Percentage Change: -8.1%
No. of Employees: 23,655
Global Headquarters: Fort Worth, Texas
KEY EXECUTIVES:
David J. Endicott, CEO
Tim Stonesifer, SVP, CFO
Jeannette Bankes, President and GM, Global Surgical Franchise
Andy Pawson, President and GM, Global Vision Care Franchise
Franck Leveiller, SVP, Head Global R&D
Ed McGough, SVP, Head Global Manufacturing and Technical Operations
Last June, Novartis AG and former eye-care unit Alcon were fined over $365 million to resolve U.S. charges that they bribed doctors, hospitals, and clinics in Greece and Vietnam to prescribe their drugs and use their surgical products. Novartis Hellas—the Greece-based unit of the Swiss drugmaker—paid $225 million of the fine. Alcon entered its own deferred prosecution agreement and paid an $8.9 million criminal fine.
The charges included a 2012 to 2015 Novartis Hellas conspiracy to bribe Greek hospital and clinic employees to purchase more Novartis-branded drugs. Alcon was accused of using a third-party distributor from 2011-2014 to quietly funnel payments to Vietnamese hospital and clinic employees to boost intraocular lens (IOL) sales. The units were also accused of falsifying books and records to hide the bribes.
“Novartis AG’s subsidiaries profited from bribes that induced medical professionals, hospitals, and clinics to prescribe Novartis-branded pharmaceuticals and use Alcon surgical products, and they falsified their books and records to conceal those bribes,” Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division told pharmaforum.
Shannon Thyme Klinger, Novartis’ group general counsel, in a statement said the drugmaker was pleased to have resolved all its outstanding FCPA investigations.
COVID-19 spread containment measures temporarily deferred eye care procedures and exams in a number of markets, causing the surgical and eye care device firm’s full-year revenue to fall about 8 percent from the previous year. According to Alcon’s 2020 fiscal year annual report, the company saved $200 million in the detrimental Q2 of last year by managing discretionary expenses.
During the pandemic, the Alcon Foundation made donations to support meal programs for children and seniors, provide supplies to shelters, and assist public health emergency relief efforts. The company also ramped up efforts to donate personal protective equipment and hand sanitizers.
Surgical product proceeds reached $3.7 billion last year, declining 11 percent. The broad slowdown in non-urgent surgeries in 2020’s second quarter stifled the demand for eye procedures. Substantial recovery occurred later in the year according to the firm’s annual report.
Implantables fell 7 percent to $1.1 billion due to lower monofocal IOL demand, partially recovered by healthy AcrySof IQ PanOptix sales. Consumables revenue plummeted 15 percent to $1.9 billion and surgical equipment/other proceeds shrank 4 percent to $632 million thanks to the declined procedure rate as well.
The firm launched its AcrySof IQ Vivity presbyopia-correcting IOL in spheric and toric designs in Europe last March. Vivity’s non-diffractive X-WAVE design can reduce a cataract patient’s dependence on glasses. Two smooth surface transition elements on the IOL’s anterior surface work simultaneously for continuous, extended range of vision. Following U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval last February, Alcon launched Vivity over the next few months.
The Vision Care segment’s sales dropped 4 percent with sales of $3 billion. Contact lens proceeds fell 7 percent, coming to rest at $1.8 billion. The declining unit’s loss was somewhat offset, however, by the rollout of several contact lenses within the company’s Precision1 brand.
Study findings presented at last year’s American Academy of Optometry annual meeting also demonstrated the company’s Precision1 sphere contact lenses were “strongly preferred” to competitive brands by five times more patients. Wearers also rated Precision1 higher than the leading daily disposable lens competitor for quality of vision, end-of-day vision, comfort, end-of-day comfort, and overall handling. The lenses were rolled out to U.S. and European markets early this year. Precision1 for astigmatism followed in late 2020.
Ocular health product sales remained flat with a miniscule loss, slipping to $1.2 billion in revenue. The launch of several products in the firm’s Pataday eye allergy itch drop franchise kept losses in that division to $4 million and prevented it from entirely offsetting pandemic losses.
In July, the company achieved FDA approval for its Pataday Once Daily Relief Extra Strength (olopatadine 0.7%). The eye allergy itch drop provides a full day of relief without a prescription. This formulation joins Alcon’s Once Daily Relief (olopatadine 0.2%) and Twice Daily Relief (olopatadine 0.1%), which were approved for over-the-counter sale last February. Once Dailt Relief Extra Strength became available online last September, and was available in retail stores nationwide this past February.
$6.76 Billion
Prior Fiscal: $7.36 billion
Percentage Change: -8.1%
No. of Employees: 23,655
Global Headquarters: Fort Worth, Texas
KEY EXECUTIVES:
David J. Endicott, CEO
Tim Stonesifer, SVP, CFO
Jeannette Bankes, President and GM, Global Surgical Franchise
Andy Pawson, President and GM, Global Vision Care Franchise
Franck Leveiller, SVP, Head Global R&D
Ed McGough, SVP, Head Global Manufacturing and Technical Operations
Last June, Novartis AG and former eye-care unit Alcon were fined over $365 million to resolve U.S. charges that they bribed doctors, hospitals, and clinics in Greece and Vietnam to prescribe their drugs and use their surgical products. Novartis Hellas—the Greece-based unit of the Swiss drugmaker—paid $225 million of the fine. Alcon entered its own deferred prosecution agreement and paid an $8.9 million criminal fine.
The charges included a 2012 to 2015 Novartis Hellas conspiracy to bribe Greek hospital and clinic employees to purchase more Novartis-branded drugs. Alcon was accused of using a third-party distributor from 2011-2014 to quietly funnel payments to Vietnamese hospital and clinic employees to boost intraocular lens (IOL) sales. The units were also accused of falsifying books and records to hide the bribes.
“Novartis AG’s subsidiaries profited from bribes that induced medical professionals, hospitals, and clinics to prescribe Novartis-branded pharmaceuticals and use Alcon surgical products, and they falsified their books and records to conceal those bribes,” Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division told pharmaforum.
Shannon Thyme Klinger, Novartis’ group general counsel, in a statement said the drugmaker was pleased to have resolved all its outstanding FCPA investigations.
COVID-19 spread containment measures temporarily deferred eye care procedures and exams in a number of markets, causing the surgical and eye care device firm’s full-year revenue to fall about 8 percent from the previous year. According to Alcon’s 2020 fiscal year annual report, the company saved $200 million in the detrimental Q2 of last year by managing discretionary expenses.
During the pandemic, the Alcon Foundation made donations to support meal programs for children and seniors, provide supplies to shelters, and assist public health emergency relief efforts. The company also ramped up efforts to donate personal protective equipment and hand sanitizers.
Surgical product proceeds reached $3.7 billion last year, declining 11 percent. The broad slowdown in non-urgent surgeries in 2020’s second quarter stifled the demand for eye procedures. Substantial recovery occurred later in the year according to the firm’s annual report.
Implantables fell 7 percent to $1.1 billion due to lower monofocal IOL demand, partially recovered by healthy AcrySof IQ PanOptix sales. Consumables revenue plummeted 15 percent to $1.9 billion and surgical equipment/other proceeds shrank 4 percent to $632 million thanks to the declined procedure rate as well.
The firm launched its AcrySof IQ Vivity presbyopia-correcting IOL in spheric and toric designs in Europe last March. Vivity’s non-diffractive X-WAVE design can reduce a cataract patient’s dependence on glasses. Two smooth surface transition elements on the IOL’s anterior surface work simultaneously for continuous, extended range of vision. Following U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval last February, Alcon launched Vivity over the next few months.
The Vision Care segment’s sales dropped 4 percent with sales of $3 billion. Contact lens proceeds fell 7 percent, coming to rest at $1.8 billion. The declining unit’s loss was somewhat offset, however, by the rollout of several contact lenses within the company’s Precision1 brand.
Study findings presented at last year’s American Academy of Optometry annual meeting also demonstrated the company’s Precision1 sphere contact lenses were “strongly preferred” to competitive brands by five times more patients. Wearers also rated Precision1 higher than the leading daily disposable lens competitor for quality of vision, end-of-day vision, comfort, end-of-day comfort, and overall handling. The lenses were rolled out to U.S. and European markets early this year. Precision1 for astigmatism followed in late 2020.
Ocular health product sales remained flat with a miniscule loss, slipping to $1.2 billion in revenue. The launch of several products in the firm’s Pataday eye allergy itch drop franchise kept losses in that division to $4 million and prevented it from entirely offsetting pandemic losses.
In July, the company achieved FDA approval for its Pataday Once Daily Relief Extra Strength (olopatadine 0.7%). The eye allergy itch drop provides a full day of relief without a prescription. This formulation joins Alcon’s Once Daily Relief (olopatadine 0.2%) and Twice Daily Relief (olopatadine 0.1%), which were approved for over-the-counter sale last February. Once Dailt Relief Extra Strength became available online last September, and was available in retail stores nationwide this past February.