Masimo Semiconductor Inc.—a Hudson, N.H.-based Masimo subsidiary of Irvine-based Masimo Corp.—acquired Spire Semiconductor LLC for $8.5 million from Spire Corp. of Bedford, Mass.
Spire Semiconductor makes advanced light-emitting diode technology and has been a Masimo customer.
Acquiring Spire Semiconductor allows Masimo to develop custom components and accelerate product development cycles, Masimo said.
“We believe that further advancements in noninvasive blood constituent monitoring technologies are unlikely using off-the-shelf optoelectronic components,” said Joe Kiani, chief executive of Masimo Corp.
Analyst Matt Dolan of Roth Capital Partners LLC in Newport Beach said management estimates $30 million in saved spending from the acquisition.
The analyst, in the same research note, estimated Masimo will spend $3 million to $4 million more on legal matters this year, as he expects a patent suit against the Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics NV to go to trial this year.
Elsewhere on its recently busy agenda, Masimo signed a multiyear tech-supply deal with Fortis Healthcare, which owns 68 hospitals in India. Fortis hospitals will have access to Masimo’s full line of pulse oximeters and other patient monitors via the deal.
The deal allows Fortis hospitals directly to access and purchase Masimo’s devices, including Rainbow SET, SafetyNet and SedLine, a brain function monitor.
Clarient CEO
Parent company veteran Carrie Eglinton-Manner was named chief executive of Clarient, an Aliso Viejo-based molecular diagnostics company and a unit of GE Healthcare.
Eglinton-Manner replaced Ron Andrews, Clarient’s chief executive when the U.K.-based General Electric Co. division bought it for $587 million in 2010. She was most recently general manager of GE Healthcare’s maternal infant care unit.
Separately, GE Healthcare acquired Houston-based SeqWright Inc., which provides nucleic acid sequencing and other genomic services, on undisclosed terms. GE Healthcare said SeqWright has complementary genomics capabilities.
“The acquisition of a specialized laboratory with long-standing expertise in the sequencing field, as well as an established customer base, allows us immediate entry in this high-growth space,” Eglinton-Manner said. “[SeqWright] is an ideal complement to Clarient’s existing protein and gene expression profiling in support of pharmaceutical and in vitro diagnostic studies.”
Care Pilot
The California Department of Health Care Services has selected Orange County as one of four pilot participants in a coordinated care initiative.
The Orange office of Medi-Cal oversight agency CalOptima will provide or coordinate all healthcare services for those covered by both Medicare and Medi-Cal beginning next year. Regulators also selected Los Angeles, San Diego and San Mateo counties as initial participants.
California has an estimated 1.1 million “dual eligible,” who tend to have chronic health conditions and rely on services from numerous providers.
Stem Cells
Local stem-cell-related work isn’t exclusive to the University of California, Irvine.
California State University, Fullerton’s Bridges to Stem Cell Research program hosted a recent symposium focusing on using stem cells to regenerate limbs. Nine CSUF students, all senior biological science majors, presented research projects at the event, and speakers included UC Irvine professor David Gardiner and University of Southern California professor Francesca Mariani.
Radient
Radient Pharmaceuticals Corp., a Tustin-based maker of diagnostic tests that primarily operates overseas, said in a federal filing that its stock was delisted from the OTCQX tier of the over-the-counter stock market and moved to the OTCQB tier. The company also disclosed that it was unable to pay its accounts payable and other obligations in the ordinary course of business, among other things. Radient appointed a committee of its remaining three independent directors to assess available options open to it to continue operating.
