Abbott Laboratories, the parent of Santa Ana-based Abbott Medical Optics, is spending $60 million on an intraocular lens plant in Malaysia.
Intraocular lenses, which are implanted after cataract removal, account for about 70% of Abbott Medical Optics’ sales.
Abbott Laboratories said in a news release that its growth in the segment outpaced global market growth and was fueled by sales of its Tecnis line, including the Tecnis Symfony, which received European regulatory clearance in June.
The plant will be in Kulim Hi-Tech Park in the Malaysian state of Kedah, and will employ 500. Abbott said the plant will be operational in 2015 and produce 1 million sets of intraocular lenses a year.
Abbott Medical doesn’t manufacture intraocular lenses locally, according to company spokesperson Krysta Pellegrino.
“Given the technical expertise and resources available in Malaysia, Abbott is pleased to expand our intraocular lens manufacturing operations here,” Diane Beno, Abbott Medical’s divisional vice president, global operations, told the Malaysian Reserve newspaper.
About 22.7 million cataract surgeries will be performed this year and grow to 27.1 million by 2019, according to Beno.
Abbott Medical accounted for $605 million in sales during the first six months of the year, a 14% increase and 22% of the company’s total $2.7 billion in device sales.
Abbott Medical was previously known as Advanced Medical Optics Inc. and was created in a 2002 spinoff from Irvine-based Allergan Inc. Abbott Laboratories bought the company for $2.8 billion in 2009.
Deal Struck With Novation
Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said last month that it entered a three-year, sole-source strategic relationship with Novation, an Irving, Texas-based hospital buying group. It will sell its replacement heart valves to more than 100,000 members and affiliates of the Veterans Health Association, University HealthSystem Consortium, Children’s Hospital Association and Provista.
Edwards and Novation have a previous relationship covering the former’s critical care devices. The new agreement marks Novation’s first foray into replacement heart valves.
Novation will be able “to provide marked additional value to hospitals and their patients” with Edwards’ heart valves, David Richman, a Novation vice president, said in a statement.
And Edwards “[looks] forward to working in partnership with Novation so that heart valve patients can get the treatments they need from Edwards’ comprehensive valve portfolio,” said Donald Bobo Jr., Edwards’ corporate vice president, heart valve therapy.
InstaMed Raises $15M
InstaMed Inc., a healthcare payment processing company with offices in Newport Beach and Philadelphia, said it raised $15 million in new capital.
It said it will use the funding to expand its business. The company says it processes payments for more than 1,500 hospitals; 70,000 medical practices and clinics; and more than 100 billing services, and also works with insurers and other healthcare payers.
The company didn’t disclose the identity of the investors but characterized its investor base as “broad” and noted it includes four investment funds and four publicly traded companies.
Bits & Pieces
Irvine-based healthcare software maker Quality Systems Inc. said it won an organization of the year award in the second leg of the 12th American Business Awards competition. Quality Chief Executive Steven Plochocki won the gold award in the executive of the year-computer services category. The company received seven silver awards in other areas, such as new products, social media and leadership roles, according to a news release. … Orange-based CalOptima is the state’s top-ranked Medi-Cal health plan, according to a recent survey by the National Committee for Quality Assurance covering Medicaid health insurance plans. The Washington, D.C.-based committee based its rankings on standardized, third-party-audited data regarding healthcare quality and customer satisfaction, as well as its own accreditation scores, according to a news release. … Freedom Innovations Inc., an Irvine-based maker of prosthetics, introduced its Plié 3 microprocessor-controlled artificial knee. Plié 3 is designed for amputees who want an artificial knee that adjusts to walking, running uneven terrain, and occasional water exposure, according to Freedom. … MDx Health SA, a Belgian company with a U.S. office in Irvine, said its ConfirmMDx prostate cancer test
will qualify for Medicare coverage effective Nov. 3.
