Item 1A. Risk Factors

Our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations are subject to various risks and uncertainties. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Form 10-K, including those risks set forth under the heading entitled “Forward-Looking Statements” and in other documents that we file with the SEC and the CSA, before making any investment decision with respect to our common shares. If any of the risks or uncertainties actually occur or develop, our business, financial condition, cash flows, results of operations and/or future growth prospects could change, and such change could be materially adverse. Under these circumstances, the market value of our common shares could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment in our common shares.

Summary of Risk Factors

The following is a summary of the risk factors our business faces. The list below is not exhaustive, and investors should read this “Risk Factors” section in full. Some of the risks we face include:

•The effect of current market conditions and recessionary pressures in one or more of our markets;

•The effect of inflation and other macroeconomic factors;

•The effect of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations;

•We may not realize the anticipated benefits from the Separation, and the Separation could harm our business;

•The Separation (including the Distribution (as defined below)) is subject to uncertainties and may not occur;

•The Separation is subject to challenge and could be subject to further challenges in the future, any of which could delay or prevent the consummation of such transactions or cause them to occur on worse terms than we currently expect;

•We have a limited history of operating as an independent company, and our historical financial information is not necessarily indicative of the results that we would have achieved as an independent or standalone company and may not be a reliable indicator of our future results;

•Until the completion of the Separation, BHC will control the direction of our business, and the concentrated ownership of our common shares will prevent you and other shareholders from influencing significant decisions;

•The services that BHC provides to us may not be sufficient to meet our needs;

•Some of our directors and officers may have actual or potential conflicts of interest because of their equity ownership in BHC, and some of our directors may have actual or potential conflicts of interest because they also serve as directors of BHC;

•Potential tax liabilities that may arise as a result of the Separation or related transactions;

•Certain requirements of the public company “butterfly reorganization” rules in Section 55 of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “Tax Act”) depend on events that may not be within our control;

•We potentially could have received better terms from unaffiliated third parties than the terms we received in our agreements with BHC;

•The potential indemnification obligations to BHC and the ability of BHC to satisfy its corresponding indemnification obligations to us;

•As long as BHC owns a majority of our common shares, we may rely on certain exemptions from the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE available to “controlled companies” and of the TSX available to “majority controlled” companies;

•The impact of the actual or perceived future sales of our common shares (including via the Distribution) on our common share price;

•The transfer of certain outstanding assets, liabilities and contracts relating to the Separation and any delays thereof;

•Our ability to successfully develop our pipeline of products, which is highly uncertain and requires significant expenditures and time, including risks relating to obtaining necessary government approvals;

•Failure to comply with post-approval legal and regulatory requirements for our marketed products;

•Interruptions to our manufacturing operations and those of our third-party manufacturers, including as a result of failure to comply with applicable regulations;

•Certain of our products or components thereof are available from a single source or a limited number of sources;

•Issues relating to inventory levels or fluctuations in buying patterns by our large distributors and retail customers and supply chain disruptions;

•Failure to yield new products that achieve commercial success;

•Changes in market acceptance of our products due to inadequate reimbursement for such products or otherwise.

•The impact of competition and new medical and technological developments in our markets;

•The impact of potential catastrophic events;

•The loss of the services of, or our inability to recruit, retain, motivate, our executives and other key employees;

•Disruptions relating to the transition to our new chairman and chief executive officer;

•Pricing decisions, including as a result of price changes and/or new programs to enhance patient access to our products;

•Failure to maintain our relationships with health care providers who recommend our products to their patients;

•Our inability to control certain aspects of our third party distribution arrangements:

•The impact on our revenues of our policies and programs relating to returns, allowances, chargebacks and marketing;

•Risks associated with wholesaler concentration;

•Acquisition and integration risks;

•Potential obligations under our indemnity agreements and arrangements;

•Environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters and our ability to monitor and respond appropriately;

•Our indebtedness could adversely affect our business and our ability to meet our obligations;

•International operations risks associated with conducting a significant portion of our business outside the United States, including with respect to foreign currency risk and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict;

•The loss of patent protection or exclusivity rights and, even where we retain patent protection or exclusivity rights, competition from similar products in the markets in which we participate;

•The inability to obtain, maintain, license, enforce, defend or otherwise protect our intellectual property rights;

•Breakdown, interruption or breach of our information technology systems;

•Competition for our pharmaceutical, OTC products or medical devices;

•The potential increase of our effective tax rates, including as a result of changes in applicable tax laws;

•Potential impairment of our goodwill and other intangibles;

•The impact of ongoing and potential legal and governmental proceedings, including with respect to intellectual property;

•Compliance by our third party partners and service providers of their contractual, legal and regulatory obligations;

•Product liability matters, including potential product recalls or voluntary market withdrawals;

•Compliance with various laws and regulations, including with respect to marketing, promotional and business practices and fraud and abuse, anti-bribery, environmental and privacy and security matters;

•Enactment of new regulations or changes in existing regulations related to the health care system;

•Risks relating to our common shares, including potential fluctuations in our share price and our intention not to declare or pay dividends; and

•Potential fluctuations in operating results and financial condition.

Risks Relating to Economic and Market Conditions

Current market conditions and recessionary pressures in one or more of our markets could impact our ability to grow our business.

Over the last few years in the U.S. and globally, market and economic conditions have been challenging, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Any negative impact on economic conditions and international markets, continued volatility or deterioration in the debt and equity capital markets, inflation, deflation or other adverse economic conditions may adversely affect our business, liquidity, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline. Ongoing uncertain economic and financial market conditions may also adversely affect the financial condition of our customers, suppliers and other business partners. When our customers’ financial conditions are adversely affected, it could materially and adversely affect our sales and financial results, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline. Our global business may be negatively affected by local economic conditions, including inflation, increasing labor costs, potential recession and currency exchange rate fluctuations, which could adversely affect our cost to manufacture and provide our products and services and revenues generated through sales of such products and services. There is no guarantee that we will be able to fully absorb any such additional costs or revenue declines in the prices for our products and services.

Inflation could materially adversely affect our business and operations.

Our operating results could be materially impacted by changes in the overall global macroeconomic environment and other economic factors that impact our cost structure and revenue results. Changes in economic conditions, supply chain constraints, logistics challenges, labor shortages, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and steps taken by governments and central banks, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other stimulus and spending programs, have led to higher inflation, which has led to an increase in costs and caused changes in fiscal and monetary policy, including increased interest rates. As a result of these global macroeconomic conditions, we have been experiencing inflationary pressures related to certain materials for our products. We have also been experiencing certain supply-chain challenges which have caused disruptions in availability and delays in shipping, which has led to challenges in meeting end market demand. These inflationary pressures and supply-chain challenges have impacted our revenues and resulting margins, despite our effort to manage these impacts through strategic pricing actions and other initiatives. While we expect these inflationary pressures and supply-chain challenges to continue through 2023, the duration and extent of these challenges is uncertain and could have an adverse impact on results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

The evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the reaction of governments, private sector participants and the public to that pandemic and/or the associated economic impact of the pandemic and the reactions to it, could adversely and materially impact our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

The unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted, and continues to, adversely impact the global economy. The COVID-19 pandemic and the reactions of governments, private sector participants and the public in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 (and variants and sub-variants thereof) and/or address its impacts have had significant direct and indirect effects on businesses and commerce generally, including, but not limited to, disruption to supply chains, employee base and transactional activity, facilities closures and production suspensions, and significantly increased demand for certain goods and services, such as pandemic-related medical services and supplies, alongside decreased demand for others, such as retail, hospitality, travel and elective surgery.

As a result of the impact of COVID-19, our revenues have been negatively impacted (most negatively impacted during our second quarter of 2020) and may, in the future, continue to be negatively impacted. In particular, we have experienced delays in and postponement of our clinical trial programs and reduced demand for certain of our products due to the deferral of elective medical procedures and of doctor visits. In addition, restrictions on outpatient surgery and other medical procedures due to COVID-19, along with reduced demand for contact lenses relating to consumer fears that eye contact could result in infection spread, negatively impacted our results of operations. In addition, certain of our facilities were temporarily closed in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have also experienced some disruptions to our supply chain as a result of challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The impacts of global reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic remains a fluid situation and we continue to monitor the impacts on our businesses of the COVID-19 virus and variant and subvariant strains thereof in order to timely address new

issues if and when they arise. The rates of recovery for each of our businesses will vary by geography and will be dependent upon, among other things, the availability and effectiveness of vaccines for the COVID-19 virus and variant and subvariant strains thereof, government responses, rates of economic recovery, precautionary measures taken by patients and customers, the rate at which remaining social restrictions are lifted and, once lifted, the presumption that social restrictions will not be materially reenacted in the event of a resurgence of the virus or variant and subvariant strains thereof and other actions taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The extent and duration of the pandemic, the reactions of governments, private sector participants and the public to that pandemic and the associated disruption to business and commerce generally, and the extent to which these may impact our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations in particular, will depend on future developments which are highly uncertain and many of which are outside our control and cannot be predicted with confidence. To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic persists, with surges in infection and associated government responses, it could have a significant adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows, results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline and may exacerbate other risk factors disclosed elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section.

Risks Relating to the Separation

We may not realize the anticipated benefits from the Separation, and the Separation could harm our business.

From 2013 until the completion of the B+L IPO, we operated as a business within BHC. Since completion of the B+L IPO, we have operated as an independent company from BHC, although BHC controls a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common shares and therefore generally is able to determine the outcome of all corporate actions that require shareholder approval. The completion of the full Separation of the Company from BHC remains subject to the achievement of targeted debt leverage ratios, as well as market conditions and the receipt of applicable shareholder and other necessary approvals and the various risk factors set forth herein.

We may not be able to achieve the full strategic and financial benefits expected to result from the Separation, or such benefits may be delayed or not occur at all. The Separation is expected to enhance strategic and management focus, provide a distinct investment identity and allow us to efficiently allocate resources and deploy capital. We may not achieve these and other anticipated benefits for a variety of reasons, including, among others:

•the Separation has required and will require significant amounts of management’s time and effort, which may divert management’s attention from operating and growing our business;

•as a result of the Separation, we may be more susceptible to economic downturns and other adverse events than if we were still a part of BHC;

•following the B+L IPO, we commenced operating as an independent company and, as a result, our business is less diversified than BHC’s business prior to the completion of the B+L IPO;

•our business will also experience a loss of scale and purchasing power and access to certain financial, managerial and professional resources from which we have benefited at lower cost in the past;

•the other actions required to complete the Separation could disrupt our operations; and

•the development of our operations and infrastructure in connection with the Separation, and any future expansion of such operations and infrastructure, may not be entirely successful, and may strain our operations and increase our operating expenses.

If we fail to achieve some or all of the benefits expected to result from the Separation, or if such benefits are delayed, our business could be harmed and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

The Separation is subject to certain uncertainties. Furthermore, the Distribution (as defined below) may not occur.

Unanticipated developments, including disruptions to business and commerce induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in market conditions, possible delays in obtaining any necessary shareholder, stock exchange, regulatory or other approval or the failure to obtain any such approvals, possible delays in obtaining any required tax opinions or rulings or the failure to obtain any such tax opinions or rulings, that a portion of BHC’s ownership of Bausch + Lomb is pledged as collateral securing BHC’s 9.00% senior secured notes, negotiating challenges, the uncertainty of the financial markets, changes in the law, and other challenges could delay or prevent the completion of the Separation, result in changes to the anticipated structure of the Separation, or cause the Separation to occur on terms or conditions that are different or less favorable than expected. Any changes to the Separation or delay in completing the Separation could cause us not to realize some or all of the expected benefits or realize them on a different timeline than expected.

In particular, as part of the Separation, BHC has indicated that it intends to transfer all or a portion of its remaining direct or indirect equity interest in us to its shareholders (the “Distribution”). BHC has informed us that it currently intends to conduct the Distribution by way of an arrangement under applicable corporate law (the “Arrangement”) to be implemented in accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions set out in the plan of arrangement (the “Plan of Arrangement”) appended to the Arrangement Agreement entered into between Bausch + Lomb and BHC (the “Arrangement Agreement). Subject to the terms of the Arrangement Agreement, BHC may instead also effect the Distribution through one or more distributions effected as a dividend to all BHC shareholders, one or more distributions in exchange for BHC shares or other securities, or any combination thereof. Prior to the completion of any such Distribution, BHC may also sell a portion of its remaining direct or indirect equity interest in us through an offering to third parties.

However, BHC has no obligation to complete the Distribution, and it will have the ability to unilaterally terminate the Arrangement Agreement in its sole discretion at any time before the Arrangement is implemented, and the Arrangement Agreement will terminate in accordance with its terms on the outside date of December 31, 2024 (unless the parties otherwise agree). Whether BHC proceeds with the Distribution pursuant to the Arrangement or otherwise, in whole or in part, is subject to a number of conditions precedent, many of which are outside our control. These conditions precedent are expected to include, but are not limited to the following: achievement of targeted debt leverage ratios by BHC, receipt of any necessary regulatory or other approvals, existence of satisfactory market conditions, and in the case of a tax-free transaction, an opinion of counsel (and, at the election of BHC, a tax ruling from the IRS as to certain issues related to the Distribution (the “U.S. Tax Ruling”)) ) and a tax ruling requested from the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”) confirming the tax-free treatment of the transaction to BHC, the Company and their respective shareholders (the “Tax Ruling”). Completion of any plan of arrangement under applicable corporate law (including the Plan of Arrangement) would also be subject to approvals, including by receipt of applicable shareholder approvals and receipt of and compliance with the interim and final orders from the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the “Interim Order” and the “Final Order,” respectively). At the hearing for the Final Order, the Supreme Court of British Columbia will consider whether to approve the Distribution based on the applicable legal requirements and the evidence and submissions before the Court as to, among other things, whether the Plan of Arrangement is fair and reasonable. There can be no certainty, nor can we provide any assurance, that all conditions precedent to the Distribution, whether under the Arrangement Agreement or otherwise, will be satisfied or waived, or, if satisfied or waived, when they will be satisfied or waived. If certain approvals and consents are not received prior to the anticipated effective date of the Distribution, we and BHC may decide to proceed nonetheless, or we and BHC may either delay or amend the implementation of all or part of the Distribution, including possibly delaying the completion of the Distribution in order to allow sufficient time to complete such matters or effecting the Distribution other than by way of a plan of arrangement under applicable corporate law. Any such changes in timing or manner of effecting the Distribution could result in other conditions needing to be satisfied or waived. If the Distribution is delayed, restructured or not completed, the market price of our common shares may be materially adversely affected. Furthermore, if the Distribution does not occur, or if BHC does not otherwise dispose of its ownership of our equity interests, the risks relating to BHC’s control of us and the potential business conflicts of interest between BHC and us will continue to be relevant to our shareholders. The liquidity of our common shares in the market may be constrained for as long as BHC continues to hold a significant position in our common shares. A lack of liquidity in our common shares could depress the price of our common shares.

It is possible that future factors may arise that make it inadvisable to proceed with, or advisable to delay, all or part of the Distribution, which may include an amendment to the Plan of Arrangement to modify, add or remove certain steps in the Arrangement, or to amend the terms of the Arrangement Agreement. BHC will have the right, in its sole discretion to amend the Plan of Arrangement and to make any necessary conforming changes to the Arrangement Agreement so long as it has determined, acting reasonably, that such amendment(s) are not materially adverse to us or to our shareholders from a financial perspective. The Arrangement Agreement may also be terminated in certain circumstances, including by BHC in its sole discretion at any time before the Arrangement is implemented. BHC will have the right to abandon or change the structure of the Distribution if BHC determines to do so in its sole discretion.

Additionally, if the Distribution, does not occur on the timelines or in the manner currently anticipated or at all, it may have a negative effect on our stock price or value of our common shares.

The Separation is subject to challenge and could be subject to further challenges in the future, any of which could delay or prevent the consummation of such transactions or cause them to occur on worse terms than we currently expect.

The Separation is subject to challenge, which could delay or prevent the consummation of such transactions or cause them to occur on worse terms than we currently expect. For example, in March 2022, we and BHC were named in a declaratory judgment action in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Somerset County, Chancery Division (which was removed to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, but subsequently remanded back to the Superior Court of New Jersey), brought by certain individual investors in BHC’s common shares and debt securities who are also maintaining individual securities fraud claims against BHC and certain of its current or former officers and directors. This action seeks a declaratory judgment that the transfer of assets from BHC to us would constitute a voidable transfer under New Jersey’s

Uniform Voidable Transactions Act and that we would become liable for damages awarded against BHC in the individual opt-out actions. In addition, we could, in the future, face additional legal proceedings and investigations and inquiries by governmental agencies relating to these or similar matters. For more information regarding legal proceedings, see Note 20, “LEGAL PROCEEDINGS” to our audited consolidated financial statements.

We are unable to predict the outcome of any such proceedings, investigations and inquiries, but we may incur significant costs and diversion of management attention as a result of these matters, regardless of the outcome. Some or all of these proceedings, investigations and inquiries may lead to damages, settlement payments, fines, penalties, consent orders or other administrative sanctions against us, even if they relate solely to alleged actions or misstatements of BHC. Furthermore, publicity surrounding these proceedings, investigations and inquiries or any enforcement action as a result thereof, even if ultimately resolved favorably for us could result in additional investigations and legal proceedings. As a result, these proceedings, investigations and inquiries could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

We have limited history of operating as an independent company, and our historical financial information prior to the B+L IPO is not necessarily representative of the results that we would have achieved as an independent or standalone company and may not be a reliable indicator of our future results.

Our historical financial information, as of dates and for periods prior to the B+L IPO, is not necessarily indicative of our future results of operations, financial condition or cash flows, nor does it reflect what our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows would have been as an independent public company during the periods presented. In particular, such historical financial information included in this Form 10-K is not necessarily indicative of our future results of operations, financial condition or cash flows primarily because of the following factors, among others:

•Prior to the B+L IPO, our business had been operated by BHC as part of its broader corporate organization, rather than as an independent company; BHC or one of its affiliates provided support for various corporate functions for us, such as information technology, compensation and benefits, human resources, engineering, finance and internal audit.

•Our historical financial results prior to the B+L IPO reflect the direct, indirect and allocated costs for such services historically provided by BHC. Following the B+L IPO, BHC continues to provide some of these services to us on a transitional basis, pursuant to a transition services agreement that we entered into with BHC in connection with the Separation. Our historical financial information does not reflect our obligations under the various transitional and other agreements we entered into with BHC in connection with the Separation. At the end of this transition period, we will need to perform these functions ourselves or hire third parties to perform these functions on our behalf, and these costs may differ significantly from the comparable expenses we have incurred in the past.

•Prior to the B+L IPO, our working capital requirements and capital expenditures historically were satisfied as part of BHC’s corporate-wide cash management and centralized funding programs, and our cost of debt and other capital may significantly differ from the historical amounts reflected in our historical financial statements.

•Prior to the B+L IPO, our business was integrated with that of BHC and we benefited from BHC’s size and scale in costs, employees and vendor and customer relationships. Thus, costs we incur as an independent company may significantly exceed comparable costs we incurred as part of BHC.

•As a standalone public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the Dodd-Frank Act, applicable Canadian securities laws and the regulations of the NYSE and the TSX. Such requirements have increased our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly and could be burdensome on our personnel, systems and resources. We have devoted and expect to continue to devote significant resources to address these public company-associated requirements, including compliance programs and investor relations, as well as our financial reporting obligations. Complying with these rules and regulations has and will substantially increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming and costly.

•In addition, as a public company, our management is required to conduct an annual evaluation of our internal controls over financial reporting and include a report of management on our internal controls in our annual reports on Form 10-K. Under current rules, we will be subject to these requirements beginning with our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 2023. In addition, we will be required to have our independent registered public accounting firm attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 beginning with our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 2023. If we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting, or if our registered public accounting firm is unable to provide us with an attestation and an unqualified report as to the effectiveness of our

internal controls over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could result in a decrease in the value of our common shares. Moreover, failure to accurately report our financial performance on a timely basis could also jeopardize our continued listing on the NYSE, the TSX or any other exchange on which our common shares may be listed. Delisting of our common shares on any exchange would reduce the liquidity of the market for our common shares, which would reduce the price of and increase the volatility of the market price of our common shares.

Until the completion of the Distribution, BHC will control the direction of our business.

As of February 17, 2023, BHC beneficially owns approximately 88.7% of our outstanding common shares. As long as BHC controls a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common shares with respect to a particular matter, it will generally be able to determine the outcome of all corporate actions requiring shareholder approval (as further described below) and will be able to block a takeover bid made for the shares of the Company as Canadian securities laws require that a minimum of 50% of the issued and outstanding shares be tendered to the bid in order for the bid to succeed. In addition, as controlling shareholder, BHC will have significant influence over our plans and strategies, including strategies relating to marketing and growth. Even if BHC were to control less than a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common shares, it may be able to influence the outcome of such corporate actions so long as it owns a significant portion of our common shares. If BHC does not complete the Distribution or otherwise dispose of its ownership of our equity interests, it could remain our controlling shareholder for an extended period of time or indefinitely. In such a case, the concentration of BHC’s holdings may delay or prevent any acquisition or delay or discourage takeover attempts that shareholders may consider to be favorable, or make it more difficult or impossible for a third-party to acquire control of the Company or effect a change in the Board of Directors and management, any of which may cause the market price of our common shares to decline. Any delay or prevention of a change of control transaction could deter potential acquirors or prevent the completion of a transaction in which the Company’s shareholders could receive a premium over the then current market price for their common shares.

As long as BHC controls the majority of the voting power of our outstanding common shares, except where Canadian law requires that a matter be determined by a majority of the votes cast by minority shareholders and excludes BHC from the minority for that purpose, BHC will generally be able to control, whether directly or indirectly through its ability to remove and elect directors, and subject to applicable law, substantially all matters affecting us, including:

•any determination with respect to our business direction and policies, including the election and removal of directors and the appointment and removal of officers;

•any determinations with respect to mergers, amalgamations, business combinations or dispositions of assets;

•our financing and dividend policy, and the payment of dividends on our common shares, if any;

•compensation and benefit programs and other human resources policy decisions;

•changes to any other agreements that may adversely affect us; and

•determinations with respect to our tax returns and other tax matters.

In addition, pursuant to the Master Separation Agreement entered into by us and BHC in connection with the B+L IPO, until BHC ceases to hold 50% of the total voting power of our outstanding share capital entitled to vote in the election of our directors, we will not be permitted, without BHC’s prior written consent, (or, in certain circumstances, the approval of the BHC Board of Directors), to take certain significant actions. As a result, our ability to take such actions may be delayed or prevented. We will not be able to terminate or amend the Master Separation Agreement, except in accordance with its terms.

BHC’s interests may not be the same as, or may conflict with, our interests or the interests of our other shareholders Because BHC’s interests may differ from ours or from those of our other shareholders, actions that BHC takes with respect to us, as our controlling shareholder and pursuant to its rights under the Master Separation Agreement, may not be favorable to us or our other shareholders.

In addition, BHC will have the ability, should it choose to do so, to sell some or all of our common shares that it owns in a privately negotiated transaction, which, if sufficient in size, could result in a change of control of our company. If BHC privately sells its significant equity interests in our company, we may become subject to the control of a presently unknown third party. Such third party may have interests that conflict with those of other shareholders, and may attempt to cause us to revise or change our plans and strategies. A new owner may also have different plans with respect to the Separation, including not effecting such Separation.

The services that BHC provides to us may not be sufficient to meet our needs, which may result in increased costs and otherwise adversely affect our business.

Pursuant to the Transition Services Agreement entered into with BHC in connection with the B+L IPO, BHC agreed to provide us with corporate and shared services for a transitional period, including information technology services, technical and engineering support, application support for operations, legal, payroll, finance, tax and accounting, general administrative services and other support services and other services in exchange for the fees specified in the Transition Services Agreement between us and BHC. Certain of these transitional services are still being provided to us by BHC. If we no longer receive these services from BHC due to the termination of the Transition Services Agreement or otherwise, we may not be able to perform these services ourselves and/or find appropriate third party arrangements at a reasonable cost (and any such costs may be higher than those charged by BHC). In addition, we have received informal support from BHC, which may not be addressed in the agreements we have entered into with BHC, and the level of this informal support may diminish as we become a more independent company. Any failure or significant downtime in our own administrative systems or in BHC’s administrative systems during the remainder of the transitional period could result in unexpected costs, impact our results and/or prevent us from paying our suppliers or employees and performing other administrative services on a timely basis.

Some of our directors and officers may have actual or potential conflicts of interest because of their equity ownership in BHC, and some of our directors may have actual or potential conflicts of interest because they also serve as directors of BHC.

Because of their current or former positions with BHC, some of our directors and executive officers may own common shares of BHC or have options to acquire shares of BHC, and the individual holdings may be significant for some of these individuals compared to their total assets. In addition, certain of our directors also serve as directors of BHC. While our Board of Directors has determined that Thomas W. Ross, Sr., Nathalie Bernier, Andrew C. von Eschenbach, Sarah B. Kavanagh, John A. Paulson, Russel C. Robertson, Richard U. De Schutter, Brett Icahn and Gary Hu are “independent directors” within the meaning of applicable regulatory and stock exchange requirements in the United States and within the meaning of Canadian securities regulations, certain of them have served and, in some cases, continue to serve, as directors of BHC.

A director who has a material interest in a matter before our Board of Directors or any committee on which he or she serves is required to disclose such interest as soon as the director becomes aware of it in accordance with applicable law. In situations where a director has a material interest in a matter to be considered by our Board of Directors or any committee on which he or she serves, such director may be required to excuse himself or herself from the meeting while discussions and voting with respect to the matter are taking place. Although all transactions with related parties will be approved by independent members of our Board of Directors that may meet in the absence of senior executive officers or non-independent directors, the ownership of BHC equity or service to BHC may create the appearance of conflicts of interest when the BHC-affiliated directors and officers are faced with decisions that could have different implications for BHC or us. For example, potential conflicts of interest could arise in connection with the resolution of any dispute that may arise between BHC and us regarding the terms of the agreements governing the Separation and the relationship thereafter between the companies. Potential conflicts of interest could also arise if we enter into commercial arrangements with BHC in the future. As a result of these actual or apparent conflicts, we may be precluded from pursuing certain growth initiatives.

While the Board of Directors believes that, given its size and structure, such actual or potential conflicts of interest can be managed adequately, including that the independent members of our Board of Directors may meet in the absence of senior executive officers or non-independent directors in respect of the relevant matter, the actual or perceived conflicts of interest that may arise could cause reputational or other harm.

To preserve the tax-free treatment of certain transactions related to the Distribution, we may not be able to engage in certain transactions. We could incur significant tax liabilities, or be liable to BHC, if certain transactions occur which result in these transactions or the Distribution being subject to tax.

To preserve the tax-free treatment of certain transactions related to the Distribution, certain agreements we entered into with BHC in connection with the Separation (including the Arrangement Agreement) contain certain tax-related covenants. We currently expect that the Distribution will be effected pursuant to the public company “butterfly reorganization” rules in Section 55 of the Tax Act and so these covenants include agreements that, among other things and subject to certain limited exceptions: (a) we and BHC will: (i) not, on or before the effective date of the Arrangement, take or perform or fail to take or perform any act, including entering into any transaction or permitting any act or transaction within our respective control to be taken or performed or to occur, that, in each case, could reasonably be considered to interfere or be inconsistent with the Tax Ruling; (ii) not take or perform or fail to take or perform any act, including entering into any transaction or permitting any act or transaction within our respective control to be taken or performed or to occur, in each case, that would cause BHC to cease to be a “specified corporation” within the meaning of the Tax Act on or prior to the effective date of the Arrangement, except as specifically contemplated by the Arrangement Agreement and in the Tax Ruling; and (iii) fulfill all representations and undertakings provided by us (or by any of our subsidiaries), or on our behalf (or on behalf of any of our subsidiaries) with our knowledge and consent, in the Tax Ruling; and (b) we and BHC will not, for a period of three years after the effective date of the Arrangement, take or perform or fail to take or perform any act, including

entering into any transaction or permitting any act or transaction within our respective control to be taken or performed or to occur, that, in each case, could reasonably be expected to cause the Arrangement and/or any transaction contemplated by the Arrangement and/or the Arrangement Agreement to be taxed in a manner inconsistent with that provided for in the Tax Ruling. These tax covenants may restrict us from taking certain actions that we might otherwise choose to take. The tax covenants may also restrict our ability to pursue certain strategic transactions or engage in other transactions, some of which could be material, and the nature, extent and effect of these restrictions will depend on the manner in which the Distribution is effected.

If the Distribution is effected pursuant to the public company “butterfly reorganization” rules in Section 55 of the Tax Act as currently anticipated, the Company and BHC will recognize a taxable gain on the completion of the Distribution if (a) within three years of completing the Distribution, we engage in a subsequent spin-off or split-up transaction under Section 55 of the Tax Act or BHC engages in a split-up (but not spin-off) transaction under Section 55 of the Tax Act, (b) a “specified shareholder” as defined for purposes of the “butterfly reorganization” rules in Section 55 of the Tax Act disposes of our shares or shares of BHC, or property that derives 10% or more of its value from such shares and an unrelated person or a partnership acquires such property or property substituted therefor as part of the “series of transactions” which includes the Distribution; (c) there is an acquisition of control of the Company or BHC that is part of the “series of transactions” that includes the Distribution; or (d) certain persons acquire shares in our capital (other than in specified permitted transactions) in contemplation of, and as part of the “series of transactions” that includes, the Distribution. If any of the above events were to occur and to cause the Distribution to be taxable to BHC and/or to the Company, then BHC or the Company, as applicable, and, in some cases, both BHC and the Company, would be liable for a substantial amount of tax. In addition, if such an event were due to an act of BHC (or one of its subsidiaries or controlled affiliates, other than the Company or its subsidiaries) or the Company (or one of its subsidiaries or controlled affiliates), or an omission by BHC or the Company to act, then BHC (in the case of an action taken by it or one of its subsidiaries or controlled affiliates (other than the Company and its subsidiaries)) or the Company (in the case of any action taken by it or one of its subsidiaries or controlled affiliates), as applicable, would generally be required to indemnify the other party for tax under the Arrangement Agreement. A breach by BHC or the Company of the other tax-related covenants in any of the Separation related agreements (including these tax covenants) may also require BHC or the Company, as applicable, to indemnify the other against any loss suffered or incurred from or in connection with such breach.

The applicability of these restrictions and the extent and nature of any indemnity obligations will depend on the manner in which the Distribution is ultimately effected, including whether or not the Distribution is effected pursuant to the public company “butterfly reorganization” rules of the Tax Act as currently anticipated, which may be outside of our control.

In addition, in order to preserve the tax-free treatment of the Distribution as currently anticipated, if effected, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we will be restricted from taking certain actions, including, during the two-year period after the Distribution, discontinuing the active conduct of our trade or business, merging or amalgamating with any other person (other than in connection with the Distribution), redeeming or otherwise acquiring our shares (other than pursuant to certain open-market repurchases of less than 20% of our common shares, in the aggregate), soliciting, participating or supporting any acquisition of our shares by any person or business combination having a similar effect, or otherwise taking any action that could reasonably be expected to adversely affect the tax-free treatment of the Distribution for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we may be permitted to take certain of these actions if we receive a tax ruling or opinion of counsel, acceptable to BHC, to the effect that the action will not adversely affect the tax-free treatment of the Distribution for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Regardless of whether we are so permitted to take such action, we will be required to indemnify BHC for any tax-related losses that result from the taking of any such action. Due to these restrictions and indemnification obligations, we may be limited in our ability to pursue strategic transactions or other transactions that may be in our best interests, and our potential indemnity obligation to BHC could discourage, delay or prevent a merger or other business combination with us.

Certain requirements of the public company “butterfly reorganization” rules in Section 55 of the Tax Act depend on events that may not be within our control.

We expect the Tax Ruling to require, among other things, that the Distribution complies with all of the requirements of the public company “butterfly reorganization” rules in Section 55 of the Tax Act. Although the Distribution is expected to be structured to comply with these rules, and although BHC and the Company have each agreed to provide certain tax-related covenants in the Arrangement Agreement, certain events could occur that may not be within the control of the Company and/or BHC, including certain actions taken by one or more of the shareholders of the Company and/or BHC, none of whom are, to the Company’s knowledge, bound by any similar covenants (other than BHC pursuant to its tax-related covenants).

These events include circumstances where: (i) a “specified shareholder” as defined for purposes of the “butterfly reorganization” rules in Section 55 of the Tax Act disposes of our shares or shares of BHC, or property that derives 10% or more of its value from such shares and an unrelated person or a partnership acquires such property or property substituted therefor as part of the “series of transactions” which includes the Distribution; (ii) there is an acquisition of control of the

Company or BHC that is part of the “series of transactions” that includes the Distribution; or (iii) certain persons acquire shares in our capital (other than in specified permitted transactions) in contemplation of, and as part of the “series of transactions” that includes, the Distribution.

If the requirements of the public company “butterfly reorganization” rules in Section 55 of the Tax Act are not met, then this could cause the Distribution to be taxable to BHC and/or to the Company, with the result that BHC or the Company, as applicable, and, in some cases, both BHC and the Company, would be liable for a substantial amount of tax for which indemnification from the other party may not be available. If incurred, tax liabilities could have a material effect on our financial position.

We potentially could have received better terms from unaffiliated third parties than the terms we received in our agreements with BHC.

The agreements we entered into with BHC in connection with the Separation (including the Arrangement Agreement) were negotiated while we were still part of BHC’s business. Accordingly, during the period in which the terms of those agreements were negotiated, we did not have an independent Board of Directors or a management team independent of BHC. The terms of the agreements negotiated in the context of the Separation relate to, among other things, the allocation of assets, intellectual property, liabilities, rights and other obligations between BHC and us. Arm’s-length negotiations between us and an unaffiliated third party in another form of transaction, such as a seller in a sale of a business, may have resulted in more favorable terms to us.

We have agreed to indemnify BHC for certain liabilities, and BHC has agreed to indemnify us for certain liabilities. However, there can be no assurance that BHC’s indemnity will be sufficient to insure us against the full amount of such liabilities, or that BHC’s ability to satisfy its indemnification obligation will not be impaired in the future.

Pursuant to the various Separation-related agreements with BHC, BHC has agreed to indemnify us for certain liabilities. However, there can be no assurance that the indemnity from BHC will be sufficient to protect us against the full amount of such liabilities, or that BHC will be able to fully satisfy its indemnification obligations in the future. Even if we ultimately succeed in recovering from BHC any amounts for which we are held liable, we may be temporarily required to bear these losses. Each of these risks could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Furthermore, any indemnification claim against the Company, by BHC, including for a breach of the tax-related covenants, could be substantial, may not be able to be satisfied and may have a material adverse effect on us. Each of these risks could also negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

As long as BHC owns a majority of our common shares, we may rely on certain exemptions from the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE available to “controlled companies” and of the TSX available to “majority controlled” companies.

We are currently a “controlled company” within the meaning of the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE because BHC beneficially owns more than 50% of our outstanding common shares. Until such time as we are no longer a “controlled company,” we are exempt from certain corporate governance requirements, including requirements that a majority of the Board of Directors consist of independent directors and having a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee that is composed entirely of independent directors. We may take advantage of these exemptions from time to time. Upon completion of the Separation, we will no longer qualify as a controlled company and will be required to fully implement NYSE corporate governance requirements within one year of the Distribution. While BHC controls a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common shares, we may not have a majority of independent directors or our Talent and Compensation Committee may not consist entirely of independent directors. Prior to such time, shareholders may not have certain of the protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are required to comply with all of the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE.

In Canada, National Policy 58-201 (“NP 58-201”) provides guidance on corporate governance practices, which reflect best practices established by the Canadian securities regulatory authorities but are not intended to be prescriptive. NP 58-201 provides, among other things, that (i) the board of directors of a reporting issuer should have a majority of independent directors; (ii) the chair of the board of directors should be an independent director; (iii) the board of directors should appoint a nominating committee composed entirely of independent directors; and (iv) the board of directors should appoint a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors. National Instrument 58-101 requires a company to disclose the extent to which it complies with the best practices set forth in NP 58-201. To the extent that we take advantage of the “controlled company” exemption of the NYSE, and as a result do not comply with NP 58-201, we will be required to explain why we do not comply with Canadian director independence standards.

The Distribution or future sales by BHC or others of our common shares, or the perception that the Distribution or such sales may occur, could depress our common share price.

Future sales of our common shares in the public market will be subject to the volume and other restrictions of Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), for so long as BHC is deemed to be our affiliate, unless the shares to be sold are registered with the SEC. Similarly, any sale of any of our common shares by BHC will constitute a “control distribution” under Canadian securities laws (generally a sale by a person or a group of persons holding more than 20% of our outstanding voting securities) and will be subject to restrictions under Canadian securities laws, unless the sale is qualified under a prospectus filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities, is made pursuant to a prospectus exemption, or if prior notice of the sale is filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities at least seven days before any sale and there has been compliance with certain other requirements and restrictions regarding the manner of sale, payment of commissions, reporting and availability of current public information about us and compliance with applicable Canadian securities laws. We have granted certain registration rights to BHC. We are unable to predict with certainty whether or when BHC will sell a substantial number of our common shares to the extent it retains shares following the Distribution or in the event the Distribution does not occur. The Distribution or sale by BHC of a substantial number of our common shares, or a perception that the Distribution or such sales could occur, could significantly reduce the market price of our common shares.

Certain contracts used in our business will need to be replaced, or assigned from BHC or its affiliates to us in connection with the Separation, which may require the consent of the counterparty to such an assignment, and failure to obtain such replacement contracts or consents could increase our expenses or otherwise adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, the transfer of certain other assets and liabilities from BHC to us contemplated by the Separation are not yet complete.

The Separation requires us to replace shared contracts and, with respect to certain contracts that are to be assigned from BHC or its affiliates to us or our affiliates, to obtain consents and assignments from third parties. It is possible that, in connection with the replacement or consent process, some parties may seek more favorable contractual terms from us. While many of these replacement contracts and consents have already been obtained in connection with the Separation and the B+L IPO, certain replacement contracts and consents remain outstanding. BHC has agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that we receive the economic benefits of the contract in question. Nonetheless, we may be unable to obtain some of the benefits, assets and contractual commitments that are intended to be allocated to us as part of the Separation. If we are unable to obtain such replacement contracts or consents, the loss of these contracts could increase our expenses or otherwise materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Development and Regulatory Risks

The successful development of our pipeline products is highly uncertain and requires significant expenditures and time. In addition, obtaining necessary government approvals is time-consuming and not assured. The failure to commercialize certain of our pipeline products could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

We currently have a number of pipeline products in development. We and our development partners, as applicable, conduct extensive preclinical studies and clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy in humans of our pipeline products in order to obtain regulatory approval for the sale of our pipeline products. Preclinical studies and clinical trials are expensive, complex, can take many years and have uncertain outcomes. None of, or only a small number of, our research and development programs may actually result in the commercialization of a product. We will not be able to commercialize our pipeline products if preclinical studies do not produce successful results or if clinical trials do not demonstrate safety and efficacy in humans.

Furthermore, success in preclinical studies or early-stage clinical trials does not ensure that later stage clinical trials will be successful nor does it ensure that regulatory approval for the product candidate will be obtained. In addition, the process for the completion of pre-clinical and clinical trials is lengthy and may be subject to a number of delays for various reasons, which would delay the commercialization of any successful product. If our development projects are not successful or are significantly delayed, we may not recover our substantial investments in the pipeline product and our failure to bring these pipeline products to market on a timely basis, or at all, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

In addition, the FDA and Health Canada approval must be obtained in the U.S. and Canada, respectively, EMA approval (drugs) and CE Marking (devices) and/or registration under the European Commission’s Medical Device Regulation (“MDR”) 2017/745 must be obtained in countries in the European Union (“EU”) and similar approvals must be obtained from comparable agencies in other countries, prior to marketing or manufacturing new pharmaceutical and medical device products for use by humans. Obtaining such regulatory approvals for new products and devices and manufacturing processes

can take a number of years and involves the expenditure of substantial resources. We may face additional challenges with respect to EMA approval and CE Marking in the EU as a result of additional requirements for approval in the EU that may be more burdensome than those required by the FDA and Health Canada. Even if such products appear promising in development stages, regulatory approval may not be achieved and no assurance can be given that we will obtain approval in those countries where we wish to commercialize such products. Nor can any assurance be given that if such approval is secured, the approved labeling will not have significant labeling limitations, including limitations on the indications for which we can market a product, or require onerous risk management programs. Furthermore, from time to time, changes to the applicable legislation, regulations or policies may be introduced that change these review and approval processes for our products, which changes may make it more difficult and costly to obtain or maintain regulatory approvals.

Our marketed products will be subject to ongoing regulatory review.

Following initial regulatory approval of any products, we or our partners may develop or acquire, we will be subject to continuing regulatory review by various government authorities in those countries where our products are marketed or intended to be marketed, including the review of adverse drug events and clinical results that are reported after product candidates become commercially available. This also includes the need to monitor our medical device products both before and after receipt of the applicable market authorizations, including with respect to managing adverse device cases for reportable events, which may, for example, result in the need to file field safety notifications to competent health authorities. In addition, we are subject to ongoing audits and investigations of our facilities and products by the FDA, as well as other regulatory agencies in and outside the United States.

If we fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in those countries where our products are sold, we could lose our marketing approvals or be subject to fines or other sanctions. Also, as a condition to granting marketing approval of a product, the applicable regulatory agencies may require a company to conduct additional clinical trials or remediate Current Good Manufacturing Practice (“cGMP”) issues, the results of which could result in the subsequent loss of marketing approval, changes in product labeling or new or increased concerns about side effects or efficacy of a product. Also our compliance requirements extend to other current good practices with which we must comply and adhere to with respect to the development and commercialization of our products and medical devices, including not only cGMP, but also Current Good Laboratory Practices (“cGLP”), Current Good Clinical Practices (“cGLP”) and Current Good Distribution Practices (“cGDP”).

In April 2017, the European Union adopted MDR, which repeals and replaces the Medical Device Directive (“MDD”) and active implantable medical devices Directive (“AIMDD”) 90/385/EEC. The MDR, for most parts, became applicable on May 26, 2021. Under the MDR, several transitional measures apply to medical devices that are certified under the MDD or AIMDD prior to May 26, 2021 or, for class I device, for which a declaration of conformity was drawn up prior to May 26, 2021, allowing these devices to be placed on the market after May 26, 2021 under certain conditions for a transitional period. However, if we make any significant changes in the design or intended purpose of our devices, they will no longer benefit from such transitional periods. Generally, the MDR imposes stricter requirements on manufacturers, importers and distributors of medical devices. Moreover, the requirements to provide clinical data for medical devices has become stricter and as a result we may need to conduct new time consuming and costly clinical investigations with our existing medical devices to meet the new requirements, including to obtain CE certificates under the MDR. We may, or may not, be able to provide this data in time to obtain MDR certifications in a timely fashion when our existing certificates expire. These new regulations impact all of our existing and pipeline medical device products being sold in the EEA for which we are legal manufacturer, importer and/or distributor, including contact lens, lens care, eye health, aesthetic and surgical areas, as well as certain of our products outside the EEA, which rely on the EEA registration to support registration in those other countries. These products, in the aggregate, account for a meaningful portion of our net revenue in this region. While we are working to ensure compliance with these new regulations for all impacted products, we may not be able to achieve compliance for all products within the applicable transition period. If we fail to achieve compliance, we will not be able to market and sell the non-compliant products in the EEA, nor will we be able to rely on the non-compliant registration for such products in regions outside of the EEA, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations in the EEA and, possibly, on a consolidated basis, and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

While EU law is applicable in Northern Ireland, the UK Medical Devices Regulations 2002/68 also need to be complied with in Great Britain. Medical device manufacturers who have CE marked devices will be able to continue to place them on the market in the whole of the UK until July 1, 2023 without a change in labeling. After that, devices destined for Great Britain will be required to follow the UK regulatory regime and to be labeled with the UKCA mark. Northern Ireland will, however, continue to accept CE marked devices. There are some additional requirements for manufacturers who are based outside the UK such as the requirement to appoint a UK Responsible Person (“UKRP”) to take on certain regulatory responsibilities with respect to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) and users or customers in the UK. To enable devices to be placed on the market in the UK after January 1, 2021 (even for CE marked devices), a UK

manufacturer must register with the MHRA, as must a UKRP for an overseas manufacturer, such registering entity will then register each of the devices for which they are responsible for placing on the market in the UK, whether in Great Britain or Northern Ireland. This may create added expense and challenges as explained below.

Until May 25, 2021, our products bearing a CE mark could be exported from the EEA to Switzerland. However, as of May 26, 2021, the European Union no longer applies the Mutual Recognition Agreement between the EEA and Switzerland. Accordingly, legal manufacturers in Switzerland are required to appoint a European Union authorized representative, and manufacturers outside of Switzerland are required to appoint a Swiss authorized representative in compliance with the Medical Device Ordinance. As a consequence, we are required to appoint an authorized representative in Switzerland in order to export our CE-marked medical devices to Switzerland. Additionally, the name and address of the Swiss authorized representative must be placed on the packaging. This has created added expenses and challenges.

In addition, incidents of adverse drug reactions, unintended side effects or misuse relating to our products could result in additional regulatory controls or restrictions, or even lead to the regulatory authority requiring us to recall or withdraw the product from the market. Further, if faced with these incidents of adverse drug reactions, unintended side effects or misuse relating to our products, we may elect to voluntarily implement a recall or market withdrawal of our product. A recall or market withdrawal, whether voluntary or required by a regulatory authority, may involve significant costs to us, potential disruptions in the supply of our products to our customers and reputational harm to our products and business, all of which could harm our ability to market our products and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Complying with existing government regulation of dietary supplements, including our eye vitamins and mineral supplements, in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere could increase our costs significantly and adversely affect our financial results.

The manufacturing, formulation, packaging, labeling and advertising of the Company’s dietary supplement products are also subject to regulation by certain federal, state and foreign agencies, including the FDA, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”), and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in the U.S., and by Health Canada in Canada. The FDA has authority in the U.S. over the adulteration or misbranding of dietary supplements. There are requirements relating to ingredient safety, new dietary ingredient notifications, labeling, claims notifications, and adverse event reporting among other requirements. While we believe our products comply with those requirements, the FDA may challenge positions we have taken with respect to the formulation or labeling of a dietary supplement product. We are also subject to risks relating to evolving regulations of dietary supplement products, including our eye vitamins and mineral supplements, as the FDA and other applicable agencies have in the past and may in the future consider additional or more stringent regulations of dietary supplements and other products. Such developments could require reformulation of certain of our products to meet new standards, additional record-keeping obligations, increased documentation of the properties of certain products, additional or different labeling, additional scientific substantiation, adverse event reporting or similar obligations, or could result in recalls or the discontinuance of certain of our products that are not able to be reformulated. Any such developments could increase our costs significantly. In addition, the FDA also has comprehensive regulations for cGMP for those who manufacture, package or hold dietary supplement products. These regulations focus on practices that ensure the identity, purity, quality, strength and composition of dietary supplements manufacture. We or our contract manufacturers may not be able to comply with such regulations without incurring additional expenses, which could be significant.

Manufacturing and Supply Risks

If we or our third-party manufacturers are unable to manufacture our products or the manufacturing process is interrupted due to failure to comply with regulations or for other reasons, the interruption of the manufacture of our products could adversely affect our business. Other manufacturing and supply difficulties or delays may also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Our manufacturing facilities and those of our contract manufacturers must be inspected and found to be in full compliance with cGMP, quality system management requirements or similar standards before approval for marketing. Compliance with cGMP regulations requires the dedication of substantial resources and requires significant expenditures. In addition, while we attempt to build in certain contractual obligations on our third party manufacturers, we may not be able to ensure that such third-parties comply with these obligations. Our failure or that of our contract manufacturers to comply with cGMP regulations, quality system management requirements or similar regulations outside of the United States, or compliance with environmental laws or regulations, could result in enforcement action by the FDA or its foreign counterparts, or other regulatory bodies, including, but not limited to, warning letters, fines, injunctions, civil or criminal penalties, recall or seizure of products, total or partial suspension of production or importation, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approval for approved or in-market products, refusal of the government to renew marketing applications or approve pending applications or supplements, refusal of certificates for export to foreign jurisdictions, suspension of ongoing

clinical trials, imposition of new manufacturing requirements, closure of facilities and criminal prosecution. These enforcement actions could lead to a delay or suspension in production, which could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

In addition, our manufacturing and other processes use complicated and sophisticated equipment, which sometimes requires a significant amount of time to obtain and install. Manufacturing complexity, testing requirements and safety and security processes combine to increase the overall difficulty of manufacturing these products and resolving manufacturing problems that we may encounter. Although we endeavor to properly maintain our equipment (and require our contract manufacturers to properly maintain their equipment), including through on-site quality control and experienced manufacturing supervision, and have key spare parts on hand, our business could suffer if certain manufacturing or other equipment, or all or a portion of our or their facilities, were to become inoperable for a period of time. We could experience substantial production delays or inventory shortages in the event of any such occurrence until we or they repair such equipment or facility or we or they build or locate replacement equipment or a replacement facility, as applicable, and seek to obtain necessary regulatory approvals for such replacement. Any interruption in our manufacture of products could adversely affect the sales of our current products or introduction of new products and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

The supply of our products to our customers (or, in some cases, supply from our contract manufacturers to us) is subject to and dependent upon the availability and cost of transportation services. Disruption of our manufacturing operations or such transportation services (including as a result of weather conditions or other natural disasters) could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline. In addition, any prolonged disruption in the operations of our existing manufacturing or distribution facilities, whether due to technical, labor or other difficulties, weather conditions, equipment malfunction, contamination, failure to follow specific protocols and procedures, destruction of or damage to any facility or other reasons, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

For some of our finished products and raw materials, we obtain supply from one or a limited number of sources. If we are unable to obtain components or raw materials, or products supplied by third parties, our ability to manufacture and deliver our products to the market would be impeded, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Some components and raw materials used in our manufactured products and some finished products sold by us, are currently available only from one or a limited number of domestic or foreign suppliers. For example, with respect to some of our largest or most significant products, the supply of the finished product for each of our LUMIFY®, VYZULTA®, SofLens®, renu® and PureVision® products are only available from a single source and the supply of active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”) for our VYZULTA® product is also only available from a single source. In the event an existing supplier fails to supply product on a timely basis and/or in the requested amount, supplies product that fails to meet regulatory requirements, becomes unavailable through business interruption or financial insolvency or loses its regulatory status as an approved source or we are unable to renew current supply agreements when such agreements expire and we do not have a second supplier, we may be unable to obtain the required components, raw materials or products on a timely basis or at commercially reasonable prices. We attempt to mitigate these risks by maintaining safety stock of these products, but such safety stock may not be sufficient. In addition, in some cases, only a single source of active pharmaceutical ingredient is identified in filings with regulatory agencies, including the FDA, and cannot be changed without prior regulatory approval, which would involve time and expense to us. A prolonged interruption in the supply of a single-sourced raw material, including the API, or single-sourced finished product could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline. In addition, these third-party manufacturers may have the ability to increase the supply price payable by us for the manufacture and supply of our products, in some cases without our consent.

As a result, our dependence upon others to manufacture and supply our products may adversely affect our profit margins and our ability to obtain approval for and produce our products on a timely and competitive basis, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Changes in inventory levels or fluctuations in buying patterns by our large distributor and retail customers may adversely affect our sales and earnings and add to sales variability from quarter to quarter.

We balance the need to maintain inventory levels that are sufficient to ensure competitive lead times against the risk of inventory obsolescence because of changing customer requirements, fluctuating commodity prices, changes to our products, product transfers or the life-cycle of our products. In order to successfully manage our inventories, we must estimate demand from our customers and produce products that substantially correspond to that demand. If we fail to adequately forecast demand for any new or existing product, or fail to determine the appropriate product mix for production purposes, we may face production capacity issues in manufacturing sufficient quantities of a given product. In addition, failures in our information technology systems or human error could also lead to inadequate forecasting of our overall demand or product mix.

We have a significant number of unique products and we anticipate that number will continue to grow over time. As a result, the demand forecasting precision required for us to avoid production capacity issues will also increase, which could increase the risk of product unavailability and lost sales. Additionally, an increasing number of unique products could increase global inventory requirements, negatively impacting our working capital performance and leading to write-offs due to obsolescence and expired products.

Due to the lead times necessary to obtain and install new equipment and ramp up production of product lines, if we fail to adequately forecast the need for additional manufacturing capacity, whether for new or existing products, we may be unable to scale production in a timely manner to meet demand for our products. In addition, the technically complex manufacturing processes required to manufacture many of our products increase the risk of production failures and can increase the cost of producing our goods. As a result, because the production process for many of our products is complex and sensitive, the cost of production and the chance of production failures and lengthy supply interruptions is increased, which can have a substantial impact on our inventory levels.

Finally, a significant portion of our products are sold to major health care distributors and major retail chains in Canada, the United States and abroad. Consequently, our sales and quarterly growth comparisons, as well as our estimates for required inventory levels, may be affected by fluctuations in the buying patterns of major distributors, retail chains and other trade buyers. These fluctuations may result from seasonality, pricing, large retailers’ and distributors’ buying decisions or other factors. If we overestimate demand and produce too much of a particular product, we face a risk of inventory obsolescence, leaving us with inventory that we cannot sell profitably or at all. In addition, we may have to write down such inventory if we are unable to sell it for its recorded value. Conversely, if we underestimate demand and produce insufficient quantities of a product, we could be forced to produce that product at a higher price and forego profitability in order to meet customer demand. For example, if a competitor initiates a recall and there is an unexpected increase in the demand for our products, we may not be able to meet such increased demand. Insufficient inventory levels may lead to shortages that result in loss of sales opportunities altogether as potential end-customers turn to competitors’ products that are readily available. If any of these situations occur frequently or in large volumes or if we are unable to effectively manage our inventory and that of our distribution partners, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Commercialization Risks

Our approved products may not achieve or maintain expected levels of market acceptance.

Even if we are able to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for our pharmaceutical and medical device products, generic or branded, the success of these products is dependent upon achieving and maintaining market acceptance. Launching and commercializing products is time consuming, expensive and unpredictable. The commercial launch of a product takes significant time, resources, personnel and expertise, which we may not have in sufficient levels to achieve success, and is subject to various market conditions, some of which may be beyond our control. There can be no assurance that we will be able to, either by ourselves or in collaboration with our partners or through our licensees or distributors, successfully launch and commercialize new products or gain market acceptance for such products. New product candidates that appear promising in development may fail to reach the market or may have only limited or no commercial success. While we have been successful in launching some of our products, we may not achieve the same level of success with respect to all of our new products, and we may face additional challenges associated with operating as an independent company following the completion of the Separation. Our inability to successfully launch our new products may negatively impact the commercial success of such products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline. Our inability to successfully launch our new products could also lead to material impairment charges.

Levels of market acceptance for our new products could be impacted by several factors, some of which are not within our control, including but not limited to the following:

•safety, efficacy, convenience and cost-effectiveness of our products compared to the products of our competitors;

•scope of approved uses and marketing approval;

•availability of patent or regulatory exclusivity;

•timing of market approvals and market entry;

•ongoing regulatory obligations following approval, such as the requirement to conduct Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”) programs;

•any restrictions or “black box” warnings required on the labeling of such products;

•availability of alternative products from our competitors;

•acceptance of the price of our products;

•effectiveness of our sales forces and promotional efforts;

•the level of reimbursement of our products;

•acceptance of our products on government and private formularies;

•ability to market our products effectively at the retail level or in the appropriate setting of care; and

•the reputation of our products.

Further, the market perception and reputation of our products and their safety and efficacy are important to our business and the continued acceptance of our products. Any negative publicity about our products, such as the discovery of safety issues with our products, adverse events involving our products, or even public rumors about such events, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operation or could cause the market value of our common shares to decline. In addition, the discovery of significant problems with a product similar to one of our products that implicate (or are perceived to implicate) an entire class of products or the withdrawal or recall of such similar products could have a material adverse effect on sales of our products. Accordingly, new data about our products, or products similar to our products, could cause us reputational harm and could negatively impact demand for our products due to real or perceived side effects or uncertainty regarding safety or efficacy and, in some cases, could result in product withdrawal.

If our products fail to gain, or lose, market acceptance, our revenues would be adversely impacted and we may be required to record material impairment charges, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

For certain of our products, we depend on reimbursement from governmental and other third-party payors and a reduction in reimbursement could reduce our product sales and revenue. In addition, failure to be included in formularies developed by managed care organizations and coverage by other organizations may negatively impact the utilization of our products, which could harm our market share and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Sales of certain of our products are dependent, in part, on the availability and extent of reimbursement from government health administration authorities, private health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers and other organizations of the costs of our products and the continued reimbursement and coverage of our products in such programs. Changes in government regulations or private third-party payors’ reimbursement policies may reduce reimbursement for our products. In addition, such third-party payors may otherwise make the decision to reduce reimbursement of some or all our products or fail to cover some or all our products in such programs or assert that reimbursements were not in accordance with applicable requirements. For example, these decisions may be based on the price of our products or our current or former pricing practices and decisions. Any reduction or elimination of such reimbursement or coverage could result in a negative impact on the utilization of our products and, as a result, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Managed care organizations and other third-party payors try to negotiate the pricing of medical services and products to control their costs. Managed care organizations and pharmacy benefit managers typically develop formularies to reduce their cost for medications. Formularies can be based on the prices and therapeutic benefits of the available products. Due to their lower costs, generic products are often favored. The breadth of the products covered by formularies varies considerably from one managed care organization to another, and many formularies include alternative and competitive products for treatment of particular medical conditions. Failure to be included in such formularies or to achieve favorable formulary status may negatively impact the utilization and market share of our products. If our products are not included within an adequate number of formularies or adequate reimbursement levels are not provided, or if those policies increasingly favor generic products, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations or result in additional pricing pressure on our products and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Catastrophic events may disrupt our business.

We have operations and facilities which sell and distribute our products in many parts of the world. Natural events (such as a hurricane or major earthquake), terrorist attack, pandemics or other catastrophic events, including adverse weather events associated with global climate change, could cause delays in developing, manufacturing or selling our products. Such events that occur in major markets where we sell our products could reduce the demand for our products in those areas and, as a result, impact our sales into those markets. In either case, any such disruption could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Employment-related Risks

The loss of the services of, or our inability to recruit, retain, motivate, our executives and other key employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

We must retain and motivate our executives and other key employees and recruit other executives and employees in order to strengthen our management team and workforce. Our ability to retain or recruit executive and other key employees may be hindered or delayed by, among other things, competition from other employers who may be able to offer more attractive compensation packages. We have a limited history of operating as an independent company and do not have the same resources we had as a part of BHC and, as a result, we may experience additional challenges retaining and motivating our key personnel. A failure by us to retain, motivate and recruit executives and other key employees or the unanticipated loss of the services of any of these executives or key employees for any reason, whether temporary or permanent, could create disruptions in our business, could cause concerns and instability for management and employees, current and potential customers, credit rating agencies and other third parties with whom we do business and our shareholders and could cause concern regarding our ability to execute our business strategy or to manage operations in the manner previously conducted and, as a result, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

In addition, we may experience challenges in building and retaining our workforce in certain markets, where pressure from inflation and competition have exacerbated turnover and retention trends continuing from the COVID-19 pandemic. Labor shortages and competition for qualified personnel could cause disruptions in our business operations.

Furthermore, as a result of any failure to retain, or loss of, any executives or key employees, we may experience increased costs in order to identify and recruit a suitable replacement in a timely manner (and, even if we are able to hire a qualified successor, the search process and transition period may be difficult to manage and result in additional periods of uncertainty), which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline. In addition, once identified and recruited, the transition of new executives and key employees may be difficult to manage and we cannot guarantee that new executives and employees will efficiently transition into their roles or ultimately be successful in their roles. Finally, as a result of changes in our executives and key employees, there may be changes in the way we conduct our business, as well as changes to our business strategy. We cannot predict what these changes may involve or the timing of any such changes and how they will impact our product sales, revenue, business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operation, but any such changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

We have appointed a new chairman and chief executive officer to succeed our current chief executive officer and our inability to successfully manage the transition to our new chairman and chief executive officer or other operational disruptions resulting from this transition could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

In July 2022, we announced that our current chief executive officer, Joseph C. Papa, would be leaving the Company and that our Board of Directors had begun a search for a new Chief Executive Officer of the Company. We recently announced that we have appointed Brent Saunders to become our new Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, effective March 6, 2023. Concurrent with Mr. Saunders’ appointment as chief executive officer, as previously announced, Mr. Papa will step down from his roles as Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors of the Company. The transition to our new chairman and chief executive officer may be difficult to manage and we cannot guarantee that Mr. Saunders will efficiently transition into the roles of chairman and chief executive officer or ultimately be successful in such roles.As a result of the loss of Mr. Papa as our chief executive officer and/or an inadequate transition to our new chairman and chief executive officer, we may experience operational disruptions and there may be additional uncertainty, instability and concerns for management, employees, current and potential customers, other third parties with whom we do business, credit rating agencies and our shareholders regarding our ability to continue to execute our business strategy and manage operations in the manner previously conducted, and we may also experience difficulties in

executing our business strategies and goals. Furthermore, our new chairman and chief executive officer may implement changes to our business strategies, which could create further disruption and uncertainty among management, employees, current and potential customers, other third parties with whom we do business and shareholders. Any of these factors relating to the appointment and transition of our new chairman and chief executive officer could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Risks Relating to Our Business and our Business Strategy

We are, and may in the future be, subject to certain limitations or restrictions on pricing increases for certain of our products. These pricing limitations or restrictions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

For certain of our products, we are, and may in the future be, subject to certain restrictions that limit our ability to increase or make changes to the pricing of those products. These restrictions or limitations are or may be imposed contractually (such as through our contracts with group purchasing organizations or others), through legislation (such as the new Inflation Reduction Act, which, among other things, requires manufacturers to pay rebates to Medicare if prices increase faster than inflation for products used by Medicare beneficiaries) or through decisions or commitments we decide to make ourselves (such as through the pricing committees we have established or may establish for certain of our businesses).

At this time, we cannot predict what pricing changes we will make (or be required to make) nor can we predict what other changes in our business practices we may implement with respect to pricing. We also cannot predict the impact such pricing decisions or changes will or would have on our business. However, any such changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

For example, any pricing changes and programs could affect the average realized prices for our products and may have a significant impact on our revenue trends. In addition, limiting or eliminating price increases on certain of our products will result in fewer or lower price appreciation credits from certain of our wholesalers. Price appreciation credits are generated when we increase a product’s wholesaler acquisition cost (“WAC”) under our contracts with certain wholesalers. Under such contracts, we are entitled to credits from such wholesalers for the impact of that WAC increase on inventory currently on hand at the wholesalers. In wholesaler contracts, such credits, which can be significant, are offset against the total distribution service fees we pay on all of our products to each wholesaler. As a result, to the extent we decide to cease or limit price increases, we will have fewer or lower price appreciation credits to use to offset against our distribution fees owing to these wholesalers. In addition, under certain of our agreements with our wholesaler customers, we have price protection or price depreciation provisions, pursuant to which we have agreed to adjust the value of any on-hand or in-transit inventory with such customers in the event we reduce the price of any of our products. As a result, to the extent we reduce the WAC price for any of our products, we may owe a payment to such customers (or such customers may earn a credit to be offset against any amounts owing to us) equal to the amount of such inventory multiplied by the difference between the price at which they acquired the product inventory and the new reduced price.

If we fail to maintain our relationships with, and provide appropriate training in our products to, health care providers, including physicians, eyecare professionals, hospitals, large drug store chains, wholesale distributors, pharmacies, government entities and group purchasing organizations, customers may not buy certain of our products and our sales and profitability may decline.

We market our products to physicians, hospitals, pharmacies and wholesalers through our own sales force and sell through wholesalers. In some markets, we additionally sell directly to physicians, hospitals and large drug store chains and we sell through distributors in countries where we do not have our own sales staff. We have developed and strive to maintain strong relationships with members of each of these groups who assist in product research and development and advise us on how to satisfy the full range of consumer needs. We rely on these groups to educate their patients and other members of their organizations regarding our products. Consumers in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly the contact lens and lens care customers in the eye health industry, have a tendency not to switch products regularly and are repeat consumers. We have historically benefitted from BHC’s strong relationships with these physicians, hospitals, pharmacies and wholesalers, and we may not be able to maintain these relationships following the Separation. Our ability to maintain strong relationships is essential to our future performance.

The success of certain of our products, particularly our vision care and consumer health care products, is impacted by a physician’s initial recommendation of such products and a consumer’s initial choice to use such products. As a result, the failure of certain of our products, particularly in our vision care business, to retain the support of pharmaceutical professionals, hospitals or group purchasing organizations and to retain the support of the end-users and the distributors and retailers to whom we sell such products, could have a material adverse effect on our sales and profitability.

We have entered into distribution agreements with other companies to distribute certain of our products at supply prices based on net sales. Declines in the pricing and/or volume, over which we have no or limited control, of such products, and therefore the amounts paid to us, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Certain of our products are the subject of third-party distribution or sublicense agreements, pursuant to which we may manufacture and sell products to other companies, which distribute such products in return for a royalty or a supply price, in both cases which are often based on net sales. Our ability to control pricing and volume of these products may be limited and, in some cases, these companies make all distribution and pricing decisions independently of us. If the pricing or volume of such products declines, our revenues would be adversely impacted which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Our policies regarding returns, allowances and chargebacks, and marketing programs adopted by wholesalers, may reduce our revenues in future fiscal periods.

We provide certain rebates, allowances, chargebacks and other credits to our customers with respect to certain of our products. For example, we make payments or give credits to certain wholesalers for the difference between the invoice price paid to us by our wholesaler customer for a particular product and the negotiated price that such wholesaler sells such products to its hospitals, group purchasing organizations, pharmacies or other retail customers. We also give certain of our customers credits on our products that such customers hold in inventory after we have decreased the WAC prices of such products, such credit being for the difference between the old and new price. In addition, we also implement and maintain returns policies, pursuant to which our customers may return product to us in certain circumstances in return for a credit. Although we establish reserves based on our prior experience, wholesaler data, then-current on-hand inventory, our best estimates of the impact that these policies may have in subsequent periods and certain other considerations, we cannot ensure that our reserves are adequate or that actual product returns, rebates, allowances and chargebacks will not exceed our estimates, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

We may experience declines in sales volumes or prices of certain of our products as the result of the concentration of sales to wholesalers and the continuing trend towards consolidation of such wholesalers and other customer groups and this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

For certain of our products, a significant portion of our sales are to a relatively small number of customers. If our relationship with one or more of such customers is disrupted or changes adversely or if one or more of such customers experience financial difficulty or other material adverse changes in their businesses, it could materially and adversely affect our sales and financial results, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

In addition, wholesalers and retail drug chains have undergone, and are continuing to undergo, significant consolidation. This consolidation may result in these groups gaining additional purchasing leverage and consequently increasing the product pricing pressures facing our business. The result of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

We may in the future seek to identify and acquire certain assets, products and businesses.

We have recently completed a number of acquisitions and in-licensing transactions. We may in the future seek to identify and acquire complementary businesses, products, technologies or other assets to augment our pipeline. Such transactions may be complex, time consuming and expensive. There can be no guarantee that we will be able to successfully consummate acquisitions or other arrangements, which could result in significant diversion of management and other employee time, as well as substantial out-of-pocket costs. If such transactions are not completed for any reason, we may incur significant costs and the market price of our common shares may decline.

In addition, even if an acquisition is consummated, the integration of the acquired business, product or other assets into our Company may be complex and time-consuming, and we may not achieve the anticipated benefits, cost-savings or growth opportunities we expect. Potential difficulties that may be encountered in the integration process include the following: integrating personnel, operations and systems, while maintaining focus on selling and promoting existing and newly-acquired products; coordinating geographically dispersed organizations; distracting management and employees from operations; retaining existing customers and attracting new customers; maintaining the business relationships the acquired company has established, including with health care providers; and managing inefficiencies associated with integrating the operations of the Company and the acquired business, product or other assets.

Finally, these acquisitions and other arrangements, even if successfully integrated, may fail to further our business strategy as anticipated or to achieve anticipated benefits and success, expose us to increased competition or challenges with respect to our products or geographic markets, and expose us to additional liabilities associated with an acquired business, product, technology or other asset or arrangement. Any one of these challenges or risks could impair our ability to realize any benefit from our acquisition or arrangement after we have expended resources on them.

We have various indemnity agreements and indemnity arrangements in place, which may result in an obligation to indemnify or reimburse the relevant counterparty, which amounts may be material.

We have entered into customary indemnification agreements with our directors and officers. We have also obtained directors’ and officers’ liability insurance to mitigate the cost of any potential future lawsuits or actions. The maximum amount of any potential future payment cannot be reasonably estimated but could have a material adverse effect on the Company.

In the normal course of business, we have entered or may enter into agreements that include indemnities in favor of third parties, such as purchase and sale agreements, license agreements, engagement letters with advisors and consultants and various product and service agreements. These indemnification arrangements may require us to compensate counterparties for losses incurred by the counterparties as a result of breaches in representations, covenants and warranties provided by us or as a result of litigation or other third-party claims or statutory sanctions that may be suffered by the counterparties as a consequence of the relevant transaction. In some instances, the terms of these indemnities are not explicitly defined. We, whenever possible, try to limit this potential liability within the particular agreement or contract, but due to the unpredictability of future events the maximum amount of any potential reimbursement cannot be reasonably estimated, but could have a material adverse effect on the Company.

Our ability to effectively monitor and respond to the rapid and ongoing developments and expectations relating to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) matters, including related social expectations and concerns, may impose unexpected costs or result in reputational or other harm that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

There are rapid and ongoing developments and changing expectations relating to ESG matters and factors such as the impact of our operations on climate change, water and waste management, our practices relating to sustainability and product stewardship, product safety, access to health care and affordable drugs, management of business ethics and human capital development, which may result in increased regulatory, social or other scrutiny on us. If we are unable to adequately recognize and respond to such developments and governmental, societal, investor and consumer expectations relating to such ESG matters, we may miss corporate opportunities, become subject to additional scrutiny, incur unexpected costs or experience damage to our reputation or our various brands. If any of these events were to occur, there may be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and the market value of our common shares may decline.

Debt-Related Risks

Our indebtedness could adversely affect our business and our ability to meet our obligations.

As of December 31, 2022, we owed $2,488 million under our credit facilities. Our credit facilities are subject to variable rates that expose us to interest rate risk. When interest rates increase, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness increase even though the amount borrowed remains the same.

Our indebtedness contains financial or other covenants that limit our operational flexibility in a number of other ways, including:

•causing us to be less able to take advantage of business opportunities, such as making certain investments and other restricted payments and engaging in mergers, acquisitions consolidations and amalgamations, and to react to changes in market or industry conditions;

•increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic, industry, or competitive developments;

•affecting our ability to pay or refinance debts as they become due during adverse economic, financial market, and industry conditions;

•requiring us to use a portion of cash flow for debt service, reducing funds available for other purposes;

•decreasing our profitability and/or cash flow;

•causing us to be disadvantaged compared to competitors with less leverage; and

•limiting our ability to borrow additional funds in the future to fund working capital, capital expenditures, and other general corporate purposes.

In addition, the Revolving Credit Facility also contains financial covenants that (1) prior to the IG Trigger (as defined below), require us to, if, as of the last day of any fiscal quarter (commencing with the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2022), loans under the Revolving Credit Facility and swingline loans are outstanding in an aggregate amount greater than 40% of the total commitments in respect of the Revolving Credit Facility at such time, maintain a maximum first lien net leverage ratio of not greater than 4.50:1.00 and (2) after the IG Trigger, require us to, as of the last day of each fiscal quarter ending after the IG Trigger, (a) maintain a total leverage ratio of not greater than 4.00:1.00 (provided that such ratio will increase to 4.50:1.00 in connection with certain acquisitions for the four fiscal quarter period commencing with the quarter in which such acquisition is consummated) and (b) maintain an interest coverage ratio of not less than 3.00:1.00.

Further, our credit facilities have Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”)-based interest rates. SOFR is a relatively new reference rate, has a very limited history and is based on short-term repurchase agreements, backed by Treasury securities. Changes in SOFR can be volatile and difficult to predict. As a result, the amount of interest we may pay on our credit facilities is difficult to predict.

Risks Relating to the International Scope of our Business

Our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations are subject to risks arising from the international scope of our operations.

We conduct a significant portion of our business outside the United States and Canada and may, in the future, expand our operations into new countries, including emerging markets. We sell our products in many countries around the world. All of our foreign operations are subject to risks inherent in conducting business abroad, including, among other things:

•difficulties in coordinating and managing foreign operations, including ensuring that foreign operations comply with foreign laws as well as Canadian and U.S. laws applicable to Canadian companies with U.S. and foreign operations, such as export and sanctions laws and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), the Canadian Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act and other applicable worldwide anti-bribery laws;

•price and currency exchange controls;

•restrictions on the repatriation of funds;

•scarcity of hard currency, including the U.S. dollar, which may require a transfer or loan of funds to the operations in such countries, which they may not be able to repay on a timely basis;

•political and economic instability;

•compliance with multiple regulatory regimes;

•compliance with economic sanctions laws and other laws that apply to our activities in the countries where we operate;

•less established legal and regulatory regimes in certain jurisdictions, including as relates to enforcement of anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws and the reliability of the judicial systems;

•differing degrees of protection for intellectual property;

•unexpected changes in foreign regulatory requirements, including quality standards and other certification requirements;

•new export license requirements;

•adverse changes in tariff and trade protection measures;

•differing labor regulations;

•potentially negative consequences from changes in or interpretations of tax laws;

•restrictive governmental actions;

•possible nationalization or expropriation;

•credit market uncertainty;

•restrictions on business activities and other challenges associated with pandemics, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;

•differing local practices, customs and cultures, some of which may not align or comply with our Company practices and policies or U.S. laws and regulations;

•difficulties with licensees, contract counterparties, or other commercial partners; and

•differing local product preferences and product requirements.

As a result of changes to U.S. policy, there may be changes to existing trade agreements and greater restrictions on trade generally. On November 30, 2018, the United States, Canada and Mexico signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) as an overhaul and update to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The USMCA was subsequently revised on December 10, 2019 and fully ratified on March 13, 2020.

Notwithstanding the USMCA, support for protectionism and rising anti-globalization sentiment in the United States and other countries may slow global growth. In particular, a protracted and wide-ranging trade conflict between the United States and China could adversely affect global economic growth. Concerns also remain around the social, political and economic impacts of the changing political landscape in Europe, including the final outcome of Brexit negotiations. In addition, there are growing concerns over an economic slowdown in emerging markets in light of capital outflows in favor of developed markets and expected interest rate increases. Broader geopolitical tensions remained high among the United States, Russia, China and across the Middle East.

Given the international scope of our operations, any of the above factors, including sanctions, export controls, tariffs, trade wars and other governmental actions, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Similarly, adverse economic conditions impacting our customers in these countries or uncertainty about global economic conditions could cause purchases of our products to decline, which would adversely affect our revenues and operating results. Moreover, our projected revenues and operating results are based on assumptions concerning certain levels of customer spending. Any failure to attain our projected revenues and operating results as a result of adverse economic or market conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Due to the large portion of our business conducted in currency other than U.S. dollars, we have significant foreign currency risk.

We face foreign currency exposure on the translation into U.S. dollars of the financial results of our operations in numerous jurisdictions, including Europe, Canada, Latin America and Asia. Where possible, we manage foreign currency risk by managing same currency revenue in relation to same currency expenses. We may also use derivative financial instruments from time to time to mitigate our foreign currency risk and not for trading or speculative purposes. We face foreign currency exposure in those countries where we have revenue denominated in the local foreign currency and expenses denominated in other currencies. Both favorable and unfavorable foreign currency impacts to our foreign currency-denominated operating expenses are mitigated to a certain extent by the natural, opposite impact on our foreign currency-denominated revenue. In addition, the repurchase of our U.S. dollar denominated debt may result in foreign exchange gains or losses for Canadian income tax purposes. One half of any foreign exchange gains or losses will be included in our Canadian taxable income. Any foreign exchange gain will result in a corresponding reduction in our available Canadian tax attributes. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar in 2022 has adversely impacted our results of operations. The dollar has also strengthened to date in 2023 and may continue to adversely impact our results of operations.

As a result of the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the current and any future responses by the global community to such conflict and any counter responses by the Russian government or other entities or individuals, and the potential expansion of the conflict to other countries, we have experienced and may continue to experience an adverse impact on our business and operations in this region, as well as on our business and operations generally, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine. The ongoing military conflict between Ukraine and Russia has provoked strong reactions from the United States, the UK, the EU, Canada and various other countries around the world, including the imposition of export controls and broad financial and economic sanctions against Russia, Belarus and specific areas of Ukraine. In retaliation against new international sanctions and as part of measures to stabilize and support the volatile Russian financial and currency markets, the Russian authorities also imposed significant currency control measures aimed at restricting the outflow of foreign currency and capital from Russia, imposed various restrictions on

transacting with non-Russian parties, banned exports of various products and imposed other economic and financial restrictions. Additional sanctions or other measures may be imposed by the global community, and counteractive measures may be taken by the Russian government, other entities in Russia or governments or other entities outside of Russia.

In 2022, we derived approximately 4% of our revenues from sales of our products in Russia and we derived less than 1% of our revenue from sales of our products in each of Ukraine and Belarus. As of the date of this Form 10-K, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has continued to impact our business in the region, and we are continuously monitoring developments to assess any potential future impact that may arise. Given the nature of our products, we do not believe that the current sanctions and other measures imposed by the United States and other countries preclude us from conducting business in the region. However, we anticipate that the ongoing conflict in this region and the sanctions and other actions by the global community in response may continue to hinder our ability to conduct business with customers and vendors in this region. For example, we have experienced and may in the future experience disruption and delays in the supply of our products to our customers in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. We have experienced and may in the future also experience decreased demand for our products in these countries as a result of the conflict and invasion. In addition, we may experience difficulties in collecting receivables from such customers. If we are hampered in our ability to conduct business with new or existing customers and vendors in this region, our business, and operations, including our revenues, profitability and cash flows, could be adversely impacted. Furthermore, if the sanctions and other retaliatory measures imposed by the global community change, we may be required to cease or suspend our operations in the region or, should the conflict worsen, we may voluntarily elect to do so. We cannot provide assurance that current sanctions or potential future changes in these sanctions or other measures will not have a material impact on our operations in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The disruption to, or suspension of, our business and operations in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine would adversely impact our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations in this region which may, in turn, materially adversely impact our overall business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations, which impact could be material, and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline. Finally, we are also subject to risks if exchange controls were to be imposed that would limit the repatriation of profits from our operations in Russia. While we do not rely on profits or dividends from our Russian operations to fund our debt repayment or other business activities generally, as our operations from Russia primarily involve the sale of products purchased from our affiliates located outside of Russia, any exchange controls that would limit the purchase of or payment for products or goods from outside of Russia may have an adverse impact on our operations in Russia or the way we conduct business in Russia.

While the precise effects of the ongoing military conflict and sanctions on the Russian and global economies remain uncertain, they have already resulted in significant volatility in financial markets and depreciation of the Russian ruble and the Ukrainian hryvnia against the U.S. dollar, as well as in an increase in energy and commodity prices globally. Should the conflict continue or escalate, there may be various economic and security consequences including, but not limited to, supply shortages of different kinds, further increases in prices of commodities, including piped gas, oil and agricultural goods, reduced consumer purchasing power, significant disruptions in logistics infrastructure, telecommunications services and risks relating to the unavailability of information technology systems and infrastructure. The resulting impacts to the global economy, financial markets, inflation, interest rates and unemployment, among others, could adversely impact economic and financial conditions, and may disrupt the global economy’s ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Other potential consequences include, but are not limited to, growth in the number of popular uprisings in the region, increased political discontent, especially in the regions most affected by the conflict or economic sanctions, increase in cyberterrorism activities and attacks, displacement of persons to regions close to the areas of conflict and an increase in the number of refugees fleeing across Europe, among other unforeseen social and humanitarian effects.

In addition, as a result of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, we may experience other risks, difficulties and challenges in the way we conduct our business and operations generally. For example, there may be an increased risk of cybersecurity attacks due to the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, including cybersecurity attacks perpetrated by Russia or others at its direction in response to economic sanctions and other actions taken against Russia as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. Any increase in such attacks on us or our third- party providers or other systems could adversely affect our network systems or other operations. In order to address the risks associated with cybersecurity attacks from the region (including state-sponsored cybersecurity attacks), we have taken action to consolidate network traffic from Russia and Belarus through a single point, which is designed to allow us to more closely inspect that traffic. In addition, if required, this consolidation provides a single point to quickly and efficiently disconnect the region from our corporate network. At this time, to the best of our knowledge, we do not believe we have experienced any cyberattacks that are related to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Although we have taken steps to enhance our protections against such attacks, we may not be able to address these cybersecurity threats proactively or implement adequate preventative measures and there can be no assurance that we will promptly detect and address any such disruption or security breach, if at all. In addition, as a result of the risk of collectability of receivables from our customers in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, we may be required to adjust our accounting practices relating to revenue recognition in this region, with the result that we may not be able to recognize revenue from these customers until collected. We may also suffer reputational harm as a result of our continued operations in Russia, which may adversely impact our sales and other businesses in other countries. Finally, while we are not currently

conducting clinical trials in Russia, Belarus or Ukraine, certain planned trials in Russia and any future trials in this region will need to be postponed and/or relocated; however, we do not anticipate that the impact of this postponement or relocation will have a material impact to any of our development programs or pipeline products.

A further protracted conflict between Ukraine and Russia, any escalation of that conflict, and the financial and economic sanctions and import and/or export controls imposed on Russia by the United States, the UK, the EU, Canada and others, and the above-mentioned adverse effect on our operations (both in this region and generally) and on the wider global economy and market conditions could, in turn, have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Risks Relating to Intellectual Property and Exclusivity

The expiration or loss of patent protection or regulatory exclusivity rights for our key products could adversely impact our business. In addition, we have faced competition in the past and expect to face additional competition in the future, including with respect to our products that have patent protection or exclusivity rights. Competitors (including generic and potential biosimilar competitors) of our products could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

The development of new and innovative products, as well as protecting the underlying intellectual property of our product portfolio, is important to our success in all areas of our business. Some of our products either: (i) have no meaningful exclusivity protection via patent or marketing or data exclusivity rights or (ii) are protected by patents or regulatory exclusivity periods that will be expiring in the near future. The expiration or loss of patent protection or regulatory exclusivity rights for our key products could adversely impact our business. In addition, even for our products that have patent protection or exclusivity rights, we face competition from similar products in the markets in which we participate. As a result, we face significant competition with respect to a substantial majority of our products.

Without patent protection or regulatory exclusivity, competitors (including generics and biosimilars) face fewer barriers in introducing competing products. Upon the expiration or loss of patent protection or regulatory exclusivity for our products or otherwise upon the introduction of generic, biosimilar or other competitors (which may be sold at significantly lower prices than our products), we could lose a significant portion of sales and market share of that product in a very short period and, as a result, our revenues could be lower. In addition, the introduction of generic and biosimilar competitors may have a significant downward pressure on the pricing of our branded products which compete with such generics and biosimilars. Where we have the rights, we may elect to launch an authorized generic of such product (either ourselves or through a third party) prior to, upon or following generic entry, which may mitigate the anticipated decrease in product sales; however, even with the launch of an authorized generic, the decline in product sales of such product would still be expected to be significant and the effect on our future revenues could be material. The introduction of competing products (including generic products and biosimilars) could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

We may fail to obtain, maintain, license, enforce or defend the intellectual property rights required to conduct our business, or third parties may allege that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

We strive to acquire, maintain and defend patent, trademark and other intellectual property protections over our products and the processes used to manufacture these products. However, we may not be successful in obtaining such protections, or the patent, trademark and intellectual property rights we do obtain may not be sufficient in breadth and scope to fully protect our products or prevent competing products, or such patent, trademark and intellectual property rights may be susceptible to third-party challenges, which could result in the loss of such intellectual property rights or the narrowing of scope of protection afforded by such rights. Our intellectual property rights may also be circumvented by third parties and we may not be able to enforce our intellectual property rights against such third parties. The failure to obtain, maintain, enforce or defend such intellectual property rights, for any reason, could allow third parties to develop, manufacture and sell products that compete with our products or may impact our ability to develop, manufacture and market our own products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Further, the pharmaceutical and medical device industries historically have generated substantial litigation concerning the manufacture, use and sale of products and we expect this litigation activity to continue. As a result, we expect that patents related to our products will be routinely challenged, and the validity or enforceability of our patents may not be upheld. In order to protect or enforce patent rights, we may initiate litigation against third parties. Our patents may also be challenged in administrative proceedings in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and patent offices outside of the United States.

If we are not successful in defending an attack on our patents and maintaining exclusive rights to market one or more of our products still under patent protection, we could lose a significant portion of sales in a very short period. Even in cases where we prevail in an infringement claim, legal remedies available for harm caused to us may not be sufficient to make us whole. We may also become subject to infringement claims by third parties and may have to defend against charges that we infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated patents or the intellectual property or proprietary rights of third parties. Third parties may also request a preliminary or permanent injunction from a court of law to prevent us from marketing a product. Even if we believe third-party intellectual property claims are without merit, there is no assurance that a court would find in our favor on questions of infringement, validity, enforceability or priority. If we are found to infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the intellectual property rights of others, we could lose our right to develop, manufacture or sell products, including our generic products, or could be required to pay monetary damages or royalties to license proprietary rights from third parties, which could be substantial and include treble damages if we are found to willfully infringe intellectual property rights or others. However, we may not be able to obtain any required license on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Any of the foregoing events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

For certain of our products and manufacturing processes, we rely on trade secrets and other proprietary information, which we seek to protect, in part, through information technology systems discussed in more detail in the following section, and, in part, by confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements with our employees, consultants, advisors and partners. Trade secrets and proprietary information are difficult to protect. We also attempt to enter into agreements whereby such employees, consultants, advisors and partners assign to us the rights in any intellectual property they develop in the course of their engagement with us. These agreements may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. There can be no assurance that these agreements will be self-executing or otherwise provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other intellectual property or proprietary information. These agreements may not effectively prevent disclosure or misappropriation of such information and disputes may still arise with respect to the ownership of intellectual property. In addition, third parties may independently develop the same or similar proprietary information. Further, we have employed and expect to employ individuals who were previously employed at universities or other companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees, consultants, advisors and partners do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that such persons have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers or other third parties, or to claims that we have improperly used or obtained such trade secrets. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights and face increased competition to our business. The unauthorized access to or disclosure of our proprietary information or the loss of such intellectual property rights may impact our ability to develop, manufacture and market our own products or may assist competitors in the development, manufacture and sale of competing products, which could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

For a number of our commercialized products and pipeline products, including XIPERE®, LUMIFY® and VYZULTA®, we rely on licenses to patents and other technologies, know-how and proprietary rights held by third parties. Any loss, expiration, termination or suspension of our rights to such licensed intellectual property could result in our inability to continue to develop, manufacture and market our products or product candidates and, as a result, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline. If these licenses are terminated, or if the underlying patents fail to provide the intended exclusivity, third parties, including our competitors, could have the freedom to seek regulatory approval of, and to market, products identical to ours. Under some license agreements, we may not control the preparation, filing, prosecution or maintenance of the licensed intellectual property, or may not have the first right to enforce the intellectual property. In those cases, we may not be able to adequately influence patent prosecution or enforcement, or prevent inadvertent lapses of coverage due to failure to pay maintenance fees and we cannot be certain that these patents and patent applications will be prepared, filed, prosecuted, maintained, enforced and defended in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business and that does not compromise the patent rights. In the future, we may also need to obtain such licenses from third parties to develop, manufacture, market or continue to develop, manufacture or market our products. If we are unable to timely obtain these licenses on commercially reasonable terms, our ability to develop, manufacture and market our products may be inhibited or prevented, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Intellectual property litigation could cause us to spend substantial resources, distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities and cause the value of our common shares to decline.

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or

developments and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the value of our common shares. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to conduct such litigation or proceedings adequately. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could compromise our ability to compete in the marketplace, including compromising our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our clinical trials, continue our research programs, license necessary technology from third parties or enter into development collaborations that would help us commercialize our product candidates, if approved. Any of the foregoing events would harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

Risks Relating to Information Technology

We have become increasingly dependent on information technology systems and infrastructure and any breakdown, interruption, breach or other compromise of our information technology systems or those of our third party service providers could subject us to liability or interrupt the operation of our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline.

We are increasingly dependent upon our information technology systems and infrastructure, as well as those of third parties with whom we interact, and internal and public internet sites, data hosting and processing facilities, cloud-based services and hardware, social media sites and mobile technology, in connection with the conduct of our business.

We must constantly update our information technology systems and infrastructure and undertake investments in new information technology systems and infrastructure. However, we cannot provide assurance that the information technology systems and infrastructure on which we depend, including those of third parties, will continue to meet our current and future business needs or adequately safeguard our operations. Furthermore, modification, upgrade or replacement of such systems and infrastructure may be costly or out of our control.

Any failure to so modify, upgrade or replace such systems and infrastructure, any disruptions that occur during the process of such modification, upgrade or replacement and/or any breakdown, interruption or corruption of our information technology systems and infrastructure could create system disruptions, shutdowns, delays in generating or the corruption or loss of data and information or other disruptions that could result in negative financial, operational, business or reputational consequences for us.

The size and complexity of the information technology systems and infrastructure on which we rely makes such systems and infrastructure potentially vulnerable to internal or external inadvertent or intentional security breaches, including as a result of private or state-sponsored cybercrimes, terrorism, war, malware, ransomware, human error, system malfunction, telecommunication and electrical failures, natural disaster, misplaced or lost data, socially engineered breaches or other similar events.

In addition, during the normal course of our business operations, including through the use of information technology systems and infrastructure, we are involved in the collection, processing, transmission, use and retention of sensitive, confidential, non-public or personal data including personal health data and information in Canada, the United States and abroad.

Cyber-attacks are increasing in frequency, sophistication and intensity and are made by groups and individuals with a wide range of motives and expertise. Cyber-attacks could include the deployment of harmful malware, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, worms, social engineering, improper modification of information, fraudulent “phishing” e-mails and other means to affect service reliability or threaten data confidentiality, integrity or availability. Techniques used in these attacks are often highly sophisticated, change frequently and may be difficult to detect for periods of time.

We have established: (i) physical, electronic and organizational measures to safeguard and secure our systems to prevent a compromise and (ii) policies and procedures designed to provide for the timely investigation of cybersecurity incidents and the timely disclosure of cybersecurity incidents consistent with our legal and contractual obligations. We also rely on commercially available systems, software, tools and monitoring to provide security for the processing, transmission and storage of digital information.

While we attempt to take appropriate security and cybersecurity measures to protect our information technology systems and infrastructure (including any trade secrets, confidential or other sensitive information) and to prevent and detect breakdowns, unauthorized breaches and cyber-attacks, we cannot guarantee that these measures will be successful and that breakdowns and breaches of, or attacks on, our systems and data, or those of third parties upon which we rely, will be

prevented. Such breakdowns and breaches of, or attacks on, our systems and infrastructure, or the public perception that we or any third party upon which we rely have suffered a cybersecurity incident or breakdown, may cause business interruption and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations, damage our reputation with customers, employees and third parties with whom we do business and cause the market value of our common shares to decline, and we may suffer financial damage or other loss, including fines or criminal penalties or may be subject to litigation, including potentially class action law suits because of lost or misappropriated information.

While we maintain insurance against some of these risks, this insurance may not be sufficient to cover the financial, legal, business or reputational losses that may result from a breakdown, breach, cyber-attack or other compromise of or interruption to our information technology systems and infrastructure or confidential and other sensitive information.

BLCO US Equity

BLCO · 10-K · period ended 2022-12-31

Item 1A. Risk Factors

BLCO US Equity☆

BLCO · 10-K · period ended 2022-12-31

Item 1A. Risk Factors

BLCO US Equity