Alcon Inc. () is a Swiss-American

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

and

medical device A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

company specializing in eye care products. It has a paper headquarters in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

but its operational headquarters are in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where it employs about 4,500 people. Alcon was a subsidiary of

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical company, pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland. Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and was the eighth largest by re ...

until April 2019, when it was spun out into a separate publicly traded company. Alcon itself has a number of subsidiaries, including Aerie Pharmaceuticals, focused on therapies for

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...

and other diseases of the eye, and WaveLight, which develops and manufactures laser eye surgery technologies.

History

Alcon was founded in 1945 as a small pharmacy in

, United States. It was named for its founders,

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

s Robert Alexander and William Conner who focused on sterile ophthalmic products.

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

of Switzerland purchased Alcon in 1977. Alcon expanded its manufacturing capability with new plants in South America and Europe and drastically increased its investment in research. In 1979, Alcon acquired Texas Pharmacal Company which became Dermatological Products of Texas (and is now DPT Laboratories). In 1984, Alcon founded the Technical Excellence Award to promote achievements in R&D excellence and has awarded it to more than 100 recipients. The Alcon product line has expanded from

pharmaceuticals Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

to the surgical arena. Today, Alcon has operations in 75 countries and its products are sold in over 180 countries.

conducted an initial public offering of 25% of its stake in Alcon in 2002. The stock is traded under the ticker symbol ALC. In July 2008, Novartis purchased approximately 25% of Nestlé's stake in Alcon, with an option to buy Nestlé's remaining shares beginning in 2010. Novartis bought 52% stake from Nestlé for $28.1 Billion. This deal brought the total ownership of Alcon by Novartis to 77%. Beginning January 2010 Novartis formally announced it will be completing the exercise options for finishing purchasing the rest of Alcon and then promptly continue to exercise merger and takeover of Alcon. On March 29, 2010, Alcon acquired Durezol and Zyclorin from Sirion Therapeutics. Alcon received regulatory approval to acquire the rights of Durezol emulsion in the US and the global rights, excluding Latin America, for Zyclorin from Sirion Therapeutics. On June 28, 2010, Alcon's Independent Director Committee announced that a recommendation by the committee was an indispensable first step before the board of the company can decide on the merger proposal of Novartis AG, refuted Novartis’ public implications that it would be able to unilaterally impose the merger irrespective of the Independent Director Committee's position once Novartis became Alcon's majority shareholder. On July 8, 2010, Alcon's independent director committee (IDC) had set up a $50 million litigation trust to ensure company's minority shareholders get the best deal from bidder Novartis AG. On April 9, 2019, Alcon completed a 100% spin-off from Novartis. The new standalone company is worth up to 28 billion Swiss francs. In November 2021, Alcon announced it would acquire Ivantis and their glaucoma surgery stent technology for at least $475 million. In August 2022, Alcon agreed to buy Aerie Pharmaceuticals for US$770million to enhance its ophthalmic pharmaceutical portfolio. In March 2025, Alcon announced its acquisition of LENSAR, maker of the ALLY Robotic Cataract Laser Treatment System, for $356 million, with the transaction expected to close in the second half of 2025.

References

External links

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Alcon Official WebsiteAlcon : Novartis exercises option and proposes mergerNovartis needs Alcon directors' OK for buyoutSwiss Corporate Governance Expert Supports Alcon Independent Director Committee’s Position against Novartis
{{Authority control Pharmaceutical companies established in 1945 Companies based in Fort Worth, Texas Pharmaceutical companies of Switzerland Multinational companies Contact lenses Pharmaceutical companies of the United States Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange Companies in the Swiss Market Index Life sciences industry Health care companies based in Texas Eyewear companies of the United States Novartis 2010 mergers and acquisitions 2002 initial public offerings