Irvine-based Alphaeon Corp.’s focus on “lifestyle healthcare” is pushing the company close to nine figures in revenue and positioning it for a potential initial public offering.
Alphaeon develops and brings to market various healthcare technologies and services in connection with board-certified specialty doctors. The businesses are divergent but have one key element in common: They are paid for by patients rather than insurance.
The company is about “wellness, beauty and performance,” Chief Executive Robert Grant said in a recent interview.
Privately held Alphaeon has used a variety of deals for growth since its July 2013 establishment and will have sales of $75 million this year, according to Grant.
Its latest deal came last week when it spent $22 million to acquire TouchMD, a line of software that helps specialist doctors educate patients before, during and after consultations. It’s used by more than 800 doctors’ offices in more than 10 countries.
Practices that use TouchMD have increased their revenues by up to 33%, Grant said in a news release announcing the deal. He said TouchMD will be part of AlphaeonMD, a technology offering intended to increase efficiency, profitability and growth for doctors who use it.
Products, Services
Alphaeon’s product and service lineup also encompasses:
• Teoxane, a Swiss line of skincare and medical aesthetic products. Alphaeon acquired the licensing rights for the line shortly after it became operational last year.
• Physician Recommended Nutriceuticals, which are designed to treat dry eye and macular degeneration and are based on omega-3 oils. Alphaeon bought the line in July in a deal that could be worth up to $55 million.
• Alphaeon Credit, which helps patients finance procedures, such as cosmetic surgery.
• ShoutMD, a social media outlet used by more than 1,200 doctors. It allows users to discuss the performance of products and share information regarding their respective practices.
Alphaeon is also aiming its sights at the cosmetic neurotoxin market, one that’s dominated by Grant’s former employer—Irvine-based Allergan Inc., a major player in the sector due to its multibillion-dollar Botox.
Evosyal
The company said in September that the Food and Drug Administration accepted an investigational new-drug application for Evosyal. The drug is a botulinum toxin Alphaeon got in October 2013 after buying Santa Barbara-based Evolus Inc.
“The clinical trials have shown excellent safety and efficacy,” Grant said of Evosyal, which could come to market domestically in 2017.
Growth has also led Alphaeon to move in June from the offices of its parent, Newport Beach-based Strathspey Crown Holdings LLC, into 38,476 square feet at the Lakeshore Towers office complex in Irvine.
Strathspey Crown was established in 2012 to invest in lifestyle medicine businesses.
Alphaeon’s primarily white space makes liberal use of glass and red accents. It includes, among other things, a room where doctors can be trained to use the company’s products.
Alphaeon has come up in industry buzz as a candidate for an initial public offering this year.
Careful
Grant, sitting in the company’s airy conference room, was careful when asked whether Alphaeon would take the plunge.
“I would not say years” as a time frame for an IPO, he said, declining to elaborate.
Alphaeon has deep ties to Orange County’s established drug and medical device community.
Grant previously ran Allergan Medical, the Allergan unit that includes Botox Cosmetic and the Juvéderm line of lower-face dermal fillers.
He also once ran the Aliso Viejo-based surgical unit of diversified eye health company Bausch & Lomb Inc. Bausch is now part
of Canada-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., which is attempting a hostile takeover of Allergan (see story on page 1).
Alphaeon Chairman William Link is a managing director in the Newport Beach office of Versant Ventures, a Menlo Park-based venture capital firm.
