Bausch Health vs Novartis: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Bausch Health and Novartis side by side

1. 1859Novartis

   Founding of Ciba

   Silk dyer Alexander Clavel began producing the synthetic dye fuchsine in Basel, Switzerland, marking the origin of Ciba, part of the Ciba-Geigy half of the Novartis merger.

2. 1886Novartis

   Founding of Sandoz

   Alfred Kern and Edouard Sandoz founded the chemical company Kern & Sandoz in Basel, establishing the second half of the corporate lineage that would eventually merge to form Novartis.

3. 1959Bausch Health

   Milan Panic founds ICN Pharmaceuticals

   Milan Panic, a Yugoslav immigrant to California, founded ICN Pharmaceuticals in 1959 and ran it for four decades. ICN is the predecessor of Valeant Pharmaceuticals and of today's Bausch Health.

4. 1994Bausch Health

   Biovail Corporation International formed in Canada

   On March 29, 1994 Eugene Melnyk consolidated his Canadian drug-delivery business by amalgamating Trimel Corporation with its subsidiary to create Biovail Corporation International, the legal entity that files today as Bausch Health Companies Inc.

5. 1996Novartis

   Merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz

   Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz completed their merger in December 1996, a deal valued at roughly $27 billion, creating Novartis AG.

6. 2003Bausch Health

   ICN renames itself Valeant Pharmaceuticals

   ICN Pharmaceuticals, then based in Costa Mesa, California, took the Valeant Pharmaceuticals name in November 2003 to distance itself from the governance fights of the Panic era.

7. 2006Novartis

   Acquisition of Chiron Corporation

   Novartis acquired the US biotechnology company Chiron Corporation for $5.1 billion, significantly expanding its vaccine and oncology franchises.

8. 2008Bausch Health

   J. Michael Pearson becomes chief executive

   Valeant appointed former McKinsey director J. Michael Pearson as chief executive effective February 1, 2008, succeeding Timothy C. Tyson. Pearson replaced internal research spending with debt-funded acquisitions of marketed drugs.

9. 2010Bausch Health

   Biovail and Valeant complete their merger

   The merger of Biovail Corporation and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International closed on September 28, 2010. The combined company kept the Valeant name and Pearson as chief executive but was incorporated in Canada.

10. 2010Novartis

    Acquisition of Alcon

    Novartis completed the acquisition of the remaining stake in Alcon, the world's largest eye care company, for approximately $28 billion, creating a dominant position in ophthalmology.

11. 2011Bausch Health

    Ortho Dermatologics bought from Johnson and Johnson

    Valeant agreed to acquire the U.S. Ortho Dermatologics assets from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson and Johnson company, for about $345M in cash, building the dermatology franchise.

12. 2013Bausch Health

    Bausch + Lomb acquired for $8.7 billion

    Valeant agreed in May 2013 to buy eye-health company Bausch + Lomb from Warburg Pincus for $8.7B in cash, adding contact lenses, lens care, ophthalmic drugs and surgical devices.

13. 2015Bausch Health

    Salix acquisition closes at about $11.1 billion

    Valeant completed its tender offer for Salix Pharmaceuticals on April 1, 2015 at $173 per share, about $11.1B in equity value and roughly $15.8B including debt, gaining the Xifaxan franchise.

14. 2015Bausch Health

    Drug pricing and Philidor scandal breaks

    Congressional investigators pressed Valeant over 525% and 212% increases on the heart drugs Isuprel and Nitropress, bought in February 2015, and over its undisclosed ties to the Philidor mail-order pharmacy.

15. 2015Novartis

    DOJ Settlement

    Novartis paid $390 million to resolve US allegations that it gave kickbacks to specialty pharmacies to promote Exjade and Myfortic.

16. 2016Bausch Health

    Joseph Papa replaces Pearson as chief executive

    Valeant named Perrigo chief executive Joseph C. Papa as chairman and CEO on April 25, 2016, and he took over in early May 2016 with about $30B of debt outstanding.

17. 2017Bausch Health

    Skincare brands and Dendreon sold to cut debt

    Valeant sold the CeraVe, AcneFree and AMBI skincare brands to L'Oreal for about $1.3B and the Dendreon cancer unit to China's Sanpower Group for about $820M, using the proceeds to repay debt.

18. 2018Bausch Health

    Company renamed Bausch Health Companies Inc.

    The name change from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. to Bausch Health Companies Inc. was completed on July 13, 2018, and the shares began trading as BHC on the NYSE and TSX on July 16, 2018.

19. 2018Novartis

    Vas Narasimhan Appointed CEO

    Vas Narasimhan became CEO at age 41, one of the youngest leaders of a major pharmaceutical company, initiating a strategic review that would eventually lead to the Sandoz spin-off.

20. 2020Bausch Health

    SEC settlement closes the Philidor accounting case

    On July 31, 2020 Bausch Health agreed to pay a $45M civil penalty to settle SEC charges of improper revenue recognition and misleading disclosures tied to Philidor. Former chief executive J. Michael Pearson and two other executives also settled.

21. 2022Bausch Health

    Bausch + Lomb listed on the NYSE and TSX

    Bausch + Lomb common stock began trading under the ticker BLCO on May 6, 2022, and a Bausch Health subsidiary sold 35,000,000 Bausch + Lomb shares in the offering. Bausch Health retained about 88% of the eye-health company and still consolidates it. Thomas J.

22. 2023Novartis

    Acquisition of Chinook Therapeutics

    Novartis acquired Chinook Therapeutics for $3.2 billion upfront plus $300 million in milestones, securing late-stage assets for rare kidney diseases.

23. 2023Novartis

    Spin-off of Sandoz

    On October 4, 2023, Novartis completed the 100% spin-off of its Sandoz generics division, transforming into a pure-play innovative medicines company.

24. 2024Novartis

    Acquisition of MorphoSys

    Novartis acquired German biotech MorphoSys for about EUR 2.7 billion ($2.9 billion), adding the investigational myelofibrosis drug pelabresib.

25. 2025Bausch Health

    DURECT acquired and record annual revenue reported

    Bausch Health closed the DURECT acquisition on September 11, 2025 for about $63M upfront, completed Solta Medical's Chinese aesthetics distribution purchase on December 1, 2025, and reported FY2025 revenue of $10.266B, up 7%, with net income attributable to Ba…

26. 2025Novartis

    FY2025 Financial Results

    Novartis reported FY2025 net sales of $54.5 billion, up 8%, with a core operating margin above 40% and free cash flow of $17.6 billion.

27. 2025Novartis

    Entresto Generic Entry

    US generic versions of Entresto, Novartis's largest product, launched in 2025, starting the steepest patent cliff in the company's post-Sandoz history.

28. 2026Bausch Health

    RED-C trials miss endpoints and trigger a $1.4 billion charge

    In January 2026 the two Phase 3 RED-C trials of amorphous-rifaximin soluble solid dispersion for primary prevention of hepatic encephalopathy missed their primary endpoints.

29. 2026Bausch Health

    Second-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.85 billion and raised guidance

    Bausch Health reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.85B, up 13%, net income attributable to Bausch Health of $258M and adjusted EBITDA of $1.075B, and raised its full-year 2026 revenue, adjusted EBITDA and cash flow guidance.

30. 2026Novartis

    Avidity Biosciences Acquisition Closes

    On February 27, 2026, Novartis completed its roughly $12 billion acquisition of Avidity Biosciences, adding antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates for DM1, Duchenne and FSHD.

31. 2026Novartis

    HARBOR Phase 3 Miss

    In September 2026, del-desiran missed the primary endpoint of the 159-patient Phase 3 HARBOR trial in myotonic dystrophy type 1, and NVS shares fell about 12.5% in pre-market trading.

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