Valeant to change name to Bausch Health as part of ongoing turnaround effort

Valeant Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday that it will change its name to Bausch Health Companies as of July, as part of the latest move by CEO Joseph Papa to turnaround the drugmaker. "Becoming Bausch Health Companies is a major step forward in our transformation," Papa remarked.

The executive noted that the name change "more accurately represents the full scope of the company today – a leader in the development and manufacture of a wide range of pharmaceutical, medical device and over-the-counter products, primarily in the therapeutic areas of eye health, gastroenterology and dermatology."

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Since joining Valeant in 2016, Papa has been looking to move the company forward from its previous issues. Valeant indicated that in this time, it has completed more than a dozen divestitures to streamline operations, cut debt by more than 20 percent and resolved a number of legacy issues. "I made the comment on the first day I joined that we should do a name change," Papa said, adding "we had to make some real progress first with some of the legacy issues that have been affecting our company - we think we have done that."

"Now is the right time in our turnaround to unite our company's core businesses, subsidiaries and brands under the Bausch Health name," commented Papa. Valeant noted that its current businesses and subsidiaries, including Bausch + Lomb and Salix, will continue to operate under the Bausch Health umbrella using their existing names. The company added that in July, it will begin trading under the new symbol BHC.

Separately on Tuesday, Valeant reported that first-quarter sales fell 5 percent year-over-year to just under $2 billion, although the figure topped analyst estimates of $1.9 billion. The company noted that it delivered organic revenue growth for the first time since 2015, with sales up 2 percent on this measure, driven by its branded prescription drugs and Bausch + Lomb business.

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