The high-potency antioxidant and mineral formula Ocuvite PreserVision was developed along with the National Eye Institute for use in its 10-year Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS).
The study showed that the formulation of vitamin A (as beta-carotene), vitamins C and E, and minerals zinc and copper, slows the progression of age-related macular degeneration and its associated vision loss among people most at risk. Age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over age 55, affects more than 10 million adults in the US.
Bausch& Lomb holds the worldwide patent rights to the AREDS formula under a license agreement with the National Institutes of Health. The formulation was introduced to consumers as Ocuvite PreserVision after the results of the ARED study were released in October 2001.
The supplement is currently the leading product in the US eye vitamin market, according to ACNielsen, and Bausch & Lomb holds a 70 per cent share of the country's eye vitamin market.
The firm, which had revenues of $1.8 billion in 2002, yesterday filed lawsuits in US District Court in Rochester against Alcon Laboratories, General Nutrition Companies, Leiner Health Products and Rexall Sundown for infringing its patent rights.
Researchers recently reported that prescribing high doses of vitamin supplements to ageing baby boomers with vision loss due to macular degeneration could save the North American health care system more than $1.5 billion in the next 10 years.