Panel discussions and business plan competitions weren’t the only agenda items on deck at the Medical Device & Investor Forum held this month by Aliso Viejo-based group OCTANe.
OCTANe officials said at the forum, which they hosted at Hotel Irvine, that they’ll expand its LaunchPad initiative by adding mechanisms to further OCTANe -supported businesses’ growth by helping them with operational execution.
That process will involve the organization’s 200-adviser network.
LaunchPad historically has supported startup and early-stage companies, which OCTANe says have raised more than $1.1 billion.
The group “is broadening our services by expanding our influence and enabling companies to not just be formed but achieve revenue and profit goals faster and with greater success,” said Bill Carpou, OCTANe ’s chief executive.
Carpou said at the forum that OCTANe’s “LaunchPad v2” will include a four-pillared capital strategy that would connect entrepreneurs and investors during funding opportunities.
The pillars include expanding relationships beyond Orange County to attract institutional investors that focus on funding medical technology and high-technology companies; aligning with corporate venture funds that invest in promising technology; increasing exposure to individual high-net-worth investors, or angel investors, to OCTANe ’s network, which includes board members and advisory committees; and exploring additional opportunities for direct investments.
Carpou added that OCTANe was working with law firm K&L Gates, which has an OC office, and various venture capital firms to explore the additional opportunities, which could include an investment fund to support LaunchPad companies’ capital requirements (see related story, page 4).
Companies Get Tax Credits
Several healthcare companies headquartered in Orange County have been awarded tax credits for job creation from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
• Aliso Viejo-based medical laboratory Ambry Genetics Corp. received a nearly $1.2 million credit for a net increase of 268 employees.
• Irvine-based dental product maker James R. Glidewell Dental Ceramics Inc. received a $1 million tax credit for a net increase of 117 workers.
• Irvine-based healthcare software maker Quality Systems Inc. got a $400,000 tax credit for a net increase of 385 workers.
Overall, 89 California companies received $43.7 million in tax credits to create 7,000 jobs.
Hoag, Saddleback Make List
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, with campuses in Newport Beach and Irvine, and Saddleback Memorial Medical Center, which has locations
in Laguna Hills and San Clemente, recently made a list of 50 top-performing cardiovascular hospitals in the United States.
Hospitals that made the list were examined for their mortality and complication rates on various conditions and procedures, such as heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, and coronary artery bypass grafts.
Hoag and Saddleback, a property owned by Fountain Valley-based MemorialCare Health System, made the list’s community hospital category; other categories were teaching hospitals with cardiovascular residency programs, and teaching hospitals without cardiovascular residency programs.
The list is compiled by Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Truven Health Analytics. Results were published in industry journal Modern Healthcare.
Bits & Pieces
Aliso Viejo-based LoneStar Heart Inc. reported one-year results in a randomized clinical trial of its Algisyl hydrogel device that’s implanted into specific areas in the failing heart muscle to improve clinical symptoms and cardiac function in patients with advanced heart failure, according to the company. LoneStar said the study confirmed Algisyl patients “experienced significant improvements” over a control group. Algisyl has European regulatory approval, and the Food and Drug Administration has approved an investigational device exemption that allows LoneStar to start a pivotal clinical trial subject to certain conditions. … San Clemente-based VertiFlex Inc. said it received approval from the American Medical Association’s CPT editorial panel to add new insurance codes for its implants for treating lumbar spinal stenosis. VertiFlex’ Superion Interspinous Spacer received Food and Drug Administration approval in May.
