Bausch Health Companies and Eton Pharmaceuticals together announced on Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its much-awaited Always Preservative Free allergy eyedrop – EM-100 ophthalmic solution, 0.035%, antihistamine drop.
With the approval, Bausch Health (BHC) stated that the eyedrop is to be used “as the first over-the-counter (OTC) preservative-free formulation eye drop approved to temporarily relieve itchy eyes due to pollen, ragweed, grass, animal hair and dander.”
According to the company, the eyedrop can be used by adults and children 3 years of age and older. Bausch Health claims that the eyedrop will show its impact within minutes and provide relief from itchy eyes up to 12 hours with one dose. (See BHC stock analysis on TipRanks).
The formulated eyedrop was developed by Eton Pharmaceuticals. However, in February 2019, Bausch + Lomb, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bausch Health and a leading global eye health company, acquired the rights to the eyedrops from Eton.
On Sept. 22, H.C. Wainwright analyst Ram Selvaraju reiterated his Buy rating and price target of $50 (226.8% upside potential) following the company’s announcement of BHC’s Allegro Ophthalmics LLC acquisition. Selvaraju believes the deal to be lucrative as Bausch has to pay a relatively modest payment of $50 million in two tranches. The analyst said, “In our view, this move is very much in keeping with the B+L division’s strategic intent to expand and bolster its portfolio of ophthalmology-focused Rx products.”
Overall, the Street is cautiously optimistic on the stock. The Moderate Buy analyst consensus is based on 5 Buys and 2 Holds. With shares down nearly 49% year-to-date, the average analyst price target of $29.57 now implies upside potential of 93.3% from current levels.
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