SINGAPORE – 7 February 2022 – Alcon, the global leader in eye care dedicated to helping people see brilliantly, today announced it has appointed Chintan Desai and Stephanie Waugh to lead the company’s Surgical and Vision Care franchises in Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
These new appointments reflect Alcon’s commitment to market-leading innovation and growth in the region. Both executives will build on Alcon’s product pipeline, year-to-date performance, and strengthen innovation and commercial execution, driving Surgical and Vision Care sales growth in all categories.
- Chintan Desai has joined Alcon as Vice President, Surgical for Asia Pacific. He succeeds Sunil Vasant, who has been appointed Vice President, Commercial Operations and Strategy, Alcon International.
- Stephanie Waugh, previously Vice President and Global Head of Ocular Health, has been appointed Vice President, Vision Care for Asia Pacific. She succeeds Gustavo Zac, who has been appointed Vice President, U.S. Vision Care Marketing.
In his new role, Desai will harness his extensive healthcare and medical device industry experience in Asia Pacific and the United States and his competence in sales, services, finance, supply chain and project management to solidify Alcon’s industry-leading surgical eye care market leadership. He joins Alcon’s Surgical International Leadership team and reports to Roger Lopez, President, International, Surgical Franchise.
In her past roles, Waugh has played a pivotal role in new product innovation and portfolio strategy for Alcon’s leading eye care brands, including Systane®, Pataday®, OPTI-FREE® and AOSEPT®. She will continue to spearhead the expansion of Alcon’s contact lens and ocular health portfolio in the region and joins Alcon’s Vision Care International Leadership team. She reports to Sophie Dutilloy, President, International, Vision Care Franchise.
Rajkumar Narayanan, President, International, said, “Chintan’s regional leadership experience and Stephanie’s deep understanding of our business puts us in good stead to continue our growth in the APAC region. We aim to strengthen our leadership in surgical and vision care by growing our intraocular implants and next-generation surgical instruments for cataract and expanding our contact lens offering and eye drop portfolio. With their combined experience and passion for customers, I know that they will make an immediate impact and lead our business to address the growing regional needs for improved vision by helping people see brilliantly.”
Desai joins Alcon following 23 years at GE Healthcare, most recently as Chief Executive Officer for Southeast Asia. He was integral in leading the commercial team to deliver consistent double-digit growth and established a strong leadership structure to enable sustainable, long-term growth. Under his leadership, GE Healthcare grew its footprint in both public and private sectors in categories such as diagnostic imaging, ultrasound, anaesthesia and monitoring solutions, becoming Southeast Asia’s largest company in its category.
Desai spent the first decade of his career with GE Healthcare in the United States at the GE Healthcare Global HQ. After moving to Asia Pacific in 2008, he held progressive commercial, finance and operational leadership roles for GE Healthcare Asia Pacific, based in Sydney and Singapore.
“Estimates show that more than a billion people across the region will be living with vision loss by 2050,1 and with an aging population as well as the increasing incidence of myopia, improving access to high-quality ophthalmic care is a key priority for all APAC countries,” said Desai. “Our innovations, such as Vivity™ and PanOptix® intraocular lenses, and our education initiatives, such as the Phaco Development Program, continue to empower and enable ophthalmic surgeons in APAC with world-class vision care offerings. I’m thrilled to join Alcon and to work alongside our teams, partners and customers to help people see brilliantly so that they can live brilliantly.”
Waugh joined Alcon in 2018 after four years at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. She was most recently Global Head, External Eye Disease, and oversaw brand and portfolio strategy, integration, new product launches, and commercial strategy for business development and licensing with deals valued at $1.5 billion.
Prior to Novartis, Waugh spent nine years at Procter & Gamble in brand management, innovation strategy and business development for brands like Vicks, Pepto-Bismol, Pantene, Olay and Gillette, as well as prescription pharmaceuticals in gastroenterology and women’s health.
“My career at Alcon has been an exhilarating journey, taking me from Texas to around the world and now to Singapore. It is a great pleasure to be given the opportunity to lead in such a dynamic and vibrant region,” said Waugh. “I will be working closely with our team, customers and partners to launch and grow our robust pipeline of innovative products in contact lenses, contact lens care, dry eyes and allergy drops, and to raise the bar for the vision care industry.”
About Alcon
Alcon helps people see brilliantly. As the global leader in eye care with a heritage spanning more than seven decades, we offer the broadest portfolio of products to enhance sight and improve people’s lives. Our Surgical and Vision Care products touch the lives of more than 260 million people in over 140 countries each year living with conditions like cataracts, glaucoma, retinal diseases and refractive errors. Our more than 23,000 associates are enhancing the quality of life through innovative products, partnerships with eye care professionals and programs that advance access to quality eye care.
