Name: David Bailey
New title: Chief commercial officer, STAAR Surgical
Previous title: President, DB Consulting
STAAR Surgical said Wednesday it has appointed former CEO David Bailey as chief commercial officer, continuing the C-suite rebuild triggered by the collapse of the Alcon deal.
Bailey was CEO and president at STAAR from 2001 to 2008 and president of the company’s international operations from 2008 to 2011. The executive went on to found DB Consulting, a Swiss strategic advisory firm where he worked as president, and served as CEO of glaucoma diagnostics company Sensimed. Last year, Bailey participated in the successful campaign to block Alcon’s $1.6 billion takeover of STAAR.
Having criticized STAAR’s former leadership team for “self-inflicted operational challenges” in comments urging shareholders to reject the merger, Bailey now has an opportunity to shape the company’s commercial strategy. The newly appointed executive set out his plans for STAAR in a statement.
STAAR’s technology is differentiated from laser eye procedures because it is a removable and reversible approach that preserves the natural cornea and addresses a broad spectrum of myopia and astigmatism, Bailey said. Competitors have tried and failed to replicate the material that enables STAAR’s approach, Bailey added, giving the company a durable growth opportunity.
Bailey sees chances to grow sales in established markets such as China, Japan and the U.S. and to expand into largely untapped populations in South and Southeast Asia, South America and Africa. STAAR plans to “open entirely new markets and patient populations,” Bailey said.
The new executive will join STAAR’s executive committee and report to CEO Warren Foust. STAAR named Foust as permanent CEO in August, ending an eight-month window in which he served as interim co-CEO with Deborah Andrews. Foust and Andrews replaced Stephen Farrell, who stepped down in January after shareholders rejected the Alcon deal following an activist investor campaign supported by Bailey.
Andrews now serves as CFO. Like Bailey, Andrews returned to STAAR after a period away, retiring in 2020 and rejoining in 2025. A revised board has overseen the creation of the leadership team. Neal Bradsher and Richard LeBuhn of Broadwood Partners, the activist investor that cited Bailey’s comments in its fight against the Alcon deal, joined the board in January, as did Christopher Wang of Yunqi Capital.
