Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is going wider with Nordstrom.
The Costa Mesa-based drug maker has struck a deal to expand sales of its Kinerase medical skincare line to more stores owned by Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc.
Valeant’s Kinerase Core Collection is set to be sold in 41 more Nordstroms starting next month. The company introduced Kinerase in 32 Nordstroms in January.
The drug maker has seen “a great deal of consumer demand” for Kinerase, said Wesley Wheeler, Valeant’s president, North America and global commercial development.
Kinerase is a line of anti-aging creams, lotions and other products with Kinetin, a plant growth factor that keeps the skin moist.
Valeant also sells Kinerase in Sephora stores.
At Nordstrom, Valeant plans to offer creams, lotions, a C6 peptide intensive treatment, a daily cleanser, a hydrating antioxidant mist, under eye rescue product and a lip treatment.
In an interview last year, Wheeler said that moving Kinerase into stores was part of his mission to “maximize my brands and our company’s value.”
Kinerase was $22.3 million of Valeant’s 2005 product sales of $731.1 million, up 43% from the prior year. The products are aimed at well-off women ages 29 to 45.
Actress Courteney Cox, Kinerase’s spokeswoman, turns 42 in June. Last month, Cox, who debuted as Kinerase’s face last year, signed on to continue her work with the brand.
Valeant said Kinerase was the fastest-growing brand in the professional skin care category, according to the Kline Report on Professional Skin Care Products, an industry tome published in February.
The company also plans a new version for sale at the offices of dermatologists and plastic surgeons. Kinerase Pro+ Therapy contains Zeatin, which Valeant said has been proven to improve the look of skin roughness, fine lines, wrinkles, discoloration and other visible signs of skin aging.
The moves are part of Valeant’s bid to grow sales of cosmeceuticals,medical products used to enhance appearance.
Valeant is best known for drugs to fight hepatitis C. Last month, the company reported disappointing late-stage trial results for its Viramidine treatment for the liver disease.
The company said it plans to press on with its efforts for the drug.
Nationwide: $420M Deal
Nationwide Health Properties Inc., a Newport Beach-based real estate investment trust that owns nursing homes and other healthcare facilities, is paying $419 million for 32 sites owned by Hearthstone Assisted Living Inc. of Houston.
Hearthstone plans to lease back the facilities from Nationwide.
Located in 10 states, the sites are assisted living centers for the elderly and Alzheimer’s patients.
Nationwide’s paying $12 million in debt and closing costs as part of the deal. The transaction was set to close last week.
Nationwide said it expects yearly rent of $431 million under the terms of the proposed lease with Hearthstone. The deal also calls for yearly rent increases of about 2% and a portion of Hearthstone’s revenue from the sites.
Nationwide also said that Tim Hekker, Hearthstone’s chief executive, and his partners will acquire full ownership of a company that will operate the facilities once they are bought by Nationwide.
Bits and Pieces:
St. Joseph Hospital-Orange said that it opened operating rooms designed by Stryker Corp., Kalamazoo, Mich., which are digitally integrated and allow surgeons to have direct control over medical equipment with their voices. St. Joseph said that the technology should improve the operative team’s efficiency and reduce operating time, thereby shortening the period that patients must remain under anesthesia I-Flow Corp., Lake Forest, said that a study of its On-Q pain relief system done at the Cleveland Clinic Florida showed that patients who got a local anesthetic delivered by the device used significantly less narcotics, experienced an earlier return of bowel function and were able to get up and move around sooner than patients in a control group. Separately, I-Flow received an award for On-Q from Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear LLP and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology present “Computational Biology: Innovative Research Ignites Successful Startup” Thursday at the Calit2 building at the University of California, Irvine. Discussion is set to include how Coda Genomics Inc., Irvine, was formed out of technology arising from the science Patient Care Technology Systems, Mission Viejo, said it showed its software for automatically tracking emergency room patients and mobile medical equipment at the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses Congress in Washington, D.C. The Adaptive Business Leaders Organization, Orange, announced there are 35 semifinalists for its Innovations in Healthcare awards competition. Nominees include Nobel Biocare, Yorba Linda, and BioLase Technology Inc., Irvine. The awards will be given in June.
