Day: November 26, 2001

With federal approval for its PureVision contact lenses, Bausch & Lomb Inc. could spark intense competition in the 30-day lens segment.
The eye-care company today received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market its PureVision lens in the United States.
PureVision’s approval follows closely on the heels of competitor CIBA Vision’s Focus Night and Day lens launch, also a 30-day product.
Made from silicone hydrogel, the lenses allow for continuous use, including long-term overnight wear.
“Imagine being able to put in your contact lens and wear them for a whole month,” said Mark Sieczkarek, senior vice president and president of the Americas region at Bausch & Lomb.
The AerGel technology in the PureVision lens helps to balance oxygen and water to increase comfort, company officials said.
Both CIBA Vision and Bausch & Lomb are touting the breakthrough technology in the contact lens. CIBA entered U.S. markets in early October, giving it the first-mover advantage. CIBA officials also claim the product offers more oxygen than PureVision.
“The main obvious difference is the amount of oxygen our lenses lets through,” said Warren Modlin, senior product manager at CIBA Vision.
Focus Night and Day is worn by some 250,000 consumers in 40 countries. CIBA Vision is the eye care unit of Novartis AG, a player in the pharmaceuticals, consumer health, generics, eye care and animal health markets.
Bausch & Lomb (NYSE: BOL) officials estimate that some 13 million U.S. consumers may be eligible to wear PureVision.

(c) 2001 Rochester Business Journal. Obtain permission to
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The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected a challenge by the United Steelworkers of America to the North American Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA was signed in 1992 by the United States, Mexico and Canada. The high court denied the appeal without any comment or dissent.

Boeing Co. today announced 2,900 job cuts, boosting its total since Sept. 11 to 14,900 or nearly half the 30,000 jobs it has said it could cut by the end of 2002.

A new study by Harris Interactive Inc. and the Boston Consulting Group found that 37 percent of holiday shoppers are in a “confident” frame of mind, 15 percent are “distressed” and the remaining 48 percent are “recovering.”
The results are based on an online survey of 4,546 adults conducted this month and supplemented by one-on-one interviews. They show consumers being affected by the economic downturn, as well as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“The market is polarizing,” said Michael Silverstein, BCG senior vice president. “Educated, higher-income, employed consumers are planning to spend more. They’re traveling again, and they’re facing the world with confidence. The less-educated, more economically vulnerable population is still scared.”
Silverstein said the environment is challenging for retailers, but smart ones will market their products to both consumer groups.
Like those affected by trauma, “confident” consumers have progressed through the stages of recovery. “Distressed” consumers have either lost jobs or seen family members lose jobs, while “recovering” consumers are employed but worried and therefore plan to spend less for the holidays.
But Peter Stanger, BCG president, said the numbers show consumer confidence is rising.
“We already have 37 percent of consumers entering the holiday season with confidence, and we expect the number to grow by the end of the holidays, as many consumers in the large ‘recovering’ segment complete their recovery process,” he said.
The survey also found that e-commerce should fare well over the holidays. Approximately 109 million people plan to shop online this year, and 56 percent of those surveyed said they intend to spend more on gifts this year than last year.

(c) 2001 Rochester Business Journal. Obtain permission to
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ContentGuard Inc., a Xerox Corp.-Microsoft Corp. joint venture, has launched version 2.0 of its eXtensible rights Markup Language.
The company, in which Xerox owns a majority stake, has released a kit to let developers build their own XrML-based digital rights management applications and announced plans to hand control of XrML over to an international standards organization.
ContentGuard’s product, like other DRM languages, lets Web-content providers protect Internet offerings from unauthorized use. The newly released version of XrML lets providers use the language with a broader variety of applications, company officials said.
If a neutral standards organization were to agree to oversee its use and future development, it could help widen XrML’s use and seal its position, ContentGuard officials said. The company is in talks with several standards organizations.
(c) 2001 Rochester Business Journal. Obtain permission to
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Xelus Inc. has been selected to provide an enterprise software system for the world’s fourth-largest defense and aerospace firm.
U.K.-based BAE Systems has contracted with Xelus for a system that does forecasting, planning and logistics for its inventory work with aircraft, submarines, ships and land vehicles.
“Xelus provided the best solution for the aerospace and defense sectors,” said William Burgess, BAE’s strategy and capability development manager.
The local firm was chosen primarily because of its proactive demand management capabilities, with emphasis on management of returned parts and assets, from diagnosis through repair to reintroduction, he added.
Xelus also rated well in its forecasting ability, Burgess said. The company selected the Perinton firm over three finalists at the end of the year-long evaluation process.
This is the second deal with a U.K. firm announced by Xelus in less than two weeks. On Nov. 13, Xelus disclosed that TRW Aeronautical Systems Inc. had contracted with it for an enterprise software system for its defense and commercial aviation clients.
The aerospace company has asked Xelus to develop a system that offers service-parts forecasting, planning and logistics at multiple locations. The data will be fed into another TRW business forecasting system.

(c) 2001 Rochester Business Journal. Obtain permission to
reprint this article.

Global Crossing Ltd. vice chairman Joseph Clayton began work today as president and CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., a publicly traded New York City-based satellite radio firm. Clayton joined Frontier Corp. in June 1997 as president, and became CEO in August 1997. Global Crossing acquired the company in 1999. Clayton will remain Global Crossing vice chairman until the end of the year.An expanded story will be posted on the Daily Edition this afternoon.

The struggling U.S. economy slid into recession in March and its condition worsened following the Sept. 11 attacks. The National Bureau of Economic Research today confirmed that a record expansion that began in March 1991—after the last nine-month recession—was snapped exactly a decade later.

Some 500 U.S. Marines today took over an airstrip outside the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, the Pentagon said. There should be more than 1,000 Marines at the airstrip within days. A Taliban spokesman said its forces would fight U.S. troops “to our last breath,” Reuters reported.

Xelus Inc. has been selected to provide an enterprise software system for the world’s fourth-largest defense and aerospace firm. U.K.-based BAE Systems has contracted with Xelus for a system that does forecasting, planning and logistics for its inventory work with aircraft, submarines, ships and land vehicles.

ContentGuard Inc., a Xerox Corp.-Microsoft Corp. joint venture, has launched version 2.0 of its eXtensible rights Markup Language. The product lets Web-content providers protect Internet offerings from unauthorized use. The newly released version of XrML allows providers use the language with a broader variety of applications.

With federal approval for its PureVision contact lenses, Bausch & Lomb Inc. could spark intense competition in the 30-day lens segment. The eye-care company Monday received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market its PureVision lens in the United States. PureVision’s approval follows closely on the heels of competitor CIBA Vision’s Focus Night and Day lens launch, also a 30-day product.

A new study by Harris Interactive Inc. and the Boston Consulting Group found that 37 percent of holiday shoppers are in a “confident” frame of mind, 15 percent are “distressed” and the remaining 48 percent are “recovering.” The results show consumers being affected by the economic downturn, as well as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.