Tears of Joy at Bausch & Lomb

Bausch & Lomb (BOL) fans are shedding some tears of relief.

B&L shares jumped Monday after the company said it would permanently remove its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution from store shelves worldwide. Wall Street is now hoping the company can move past a months-long association with a rare eye infection that has hit the stock hard.

After weeks of investigation, Bausch & Lomb suggested Monday that "some aspect of the MoistureLoc formula" -- rather than problems that could threaten its entire ReNu brand -- could be tied to the rare eye infection. The disease, known as Fusarium keratitis, can lead to blindness.

"After an extensive investigation involving thousands of tests, millions of dollars and collaboration with government agencies, health authorities and independent experts, there is no evidence of product contamination, tampering, counterfeiting or sterility failure," CEO Ronald Zarrella said on Monday. "We are continuing to investigate this link (between MoistureLoc and Fusarium keratitis). But in the meantime, we're taking the most responsible action in the interests of our customers by discontinuing the MoistureLoc formula."

B&L had already halted shipments of MoistureLoc in the U.S. and certain Asian markets. The company is now seeking to remove the product from shelves in its remaining markets -- such as Africa, China, Europe and the Middle East -- as well. B&L relied on MoistureLoc for less than 5% of its total revenue last year.

The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it found some manufacturing violations at the company's Greenville, S.C., plant which made MoistureLoc, Dow Jones reported. But the agency said the violations aren't related to the cause of the disease, according to the report.

That news buoyed shares in Bausch & Lomb, which now faces a number of lawsuits linked to the disease. The B&L shares have lost a quarter of their value this spring. They rose 9.4% Monday to $48.60.