You might find them in a drugstore or online, but you won't find them here.
Genteal Gel and Systane Gel were on a manufacturer backorder for nearly a year. They have both come back on the market in a sporadic, limited-supply fashion in recent months.
However, we have chosen not to re-order either product because of the history of the facility where they are manufactured.
The contract manufacturing facility in question, Excelvision (in France), received a shocking Warning Letter from the FDA in May 2025 after a facility inspection in November 2024.
If you follow my emails, you may already have read how outraged I was to discover that Excel failed to follow up appropriately - for nearly 2 years - on consumer complaints about "mold, black specks and discoloration".
Upon inspection, the FDA that there were longstanding mold problems in production areas of the facility.
Previous to the Warning Letter, we had our own issues with Excel. There was an incident where we saw a visible product quality problem affecting multiple units. We asked for an investigation. We never got a plausible explanation or resolution and as a result, we stopped carrying the product (Freshkote). It was disheartening to learn that the lack of follow-up was apparently a pattern, not an isolated event.
We are aware of other reputable eye drops brands that had been made at Excel. Each of them has since moved to a different company with a better facility record - mostly Unither, a very reputable company that makes preservative-free eye drops at their facilities in France and New York.
However, the public drug label records for Genteal Gel and Systane Gel (see below) indicate they are still made at Excelvision. Alcon, when asked, confirmed that they have not changed manufacturing facilities. I find this astonishing. Alcon is a top trusted name, and deservedly so, and I don't understand why they would risk this kind of reputation taint.
DID YOU KNOW? Over-the-counter eye drop distributors in the USA are not required to disclose where their eye drops are manufactured. In most cases, you will not find the manufacturer listed on the package. In some cases, such as with Genteal and Systane Gels, we are able to find it on the product's DailyMed listing (National Library of Medicine website linked to FDA drug label database), but many major and most smaller brands do not make this information public at all. As a result, we have not yet been able to verify whether any other trusted brands are currently being made at Excel.
For more information on over-the-counter eye drop safety issues, please see Dry Eye Foundation website eyedropsafety.org.
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Manufacturer listed on Genteal Gel and Systane Gel drug label records online
