Apria Healthcare Group Inc., a Lake Forest-based home healthcare provider, had a busy November.
The company won a total of 15 contracts under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ competitive bidding program, according to trade publication Penton Insight.
Apria, which has annual revenue of about $1 billion, won eight oxygen contracts and seven contracts for providing continuous positive airway pressure, a form of breathing treatment.
Chris Karkenny, Apria’s chief financial officer, briefly addressed the company’s competitive bidding performance during a quarterly conference call for bondholders.
“So, as we talked before, we’ve won a substantial majority of the contracts for our key focus products,” Karkenny said. “We’re very comfortable where we’re at.”
The news of Apria’s wins came somewhat later than expected, according to Penton Insight.
Regulators were supposed to name the list of winners, which include Apria rivals such as American HomePatient of Brentwood, Tenn., and Orlando, Fla.-based Rotech Healthcare Inc., in September.
But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services decided to hold off because of what it called “red flags” that popped up while evaluating providers.
Some home healthcare industry executives remained skeptical about the ability of some of the smaller bid winners to live up to their contracts due to financial struggles.
But Jonathan Blum, a deputy administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said all of the chosen providers “are in good standing.”
Big on Endologix
Endologix Inc., an Irvine medical device maker, was called an “overlooked, unknown growth story” in a recent article on investor website Seeking Alpha.
Blogger Justin Hall said he was optimistic about the maker of stents that are used to reinforce a ruptured or ballooning section of an artery. He cited a recent deal for a Bay Area device maker, Nellix Endovascular Inc., as a key reason.
Endologix is buying Nellix for $15 million in stock, plus up to $39 million in milestone payments.
“From my view, this development rocked the conference call,” Hall said.
Endologix pointed out that revenue generated from Nellix alone could exceed $100 million in the next five years. Endologix has projected its full-year revenue to come in around $67 million.
Nellix makes polymer-filled bags that are designed to fix, fill and stabilize aneurysms. Hall said that Nellix’ technology would benefit Endologix in several ways, including reducing long-term patient surveillance as well as enabling doctors to treat more patients with different types of aneurysms.
Hall wrote that he first recommended Endologix stock in early July. Since then, the company’s shares have risen about 33% with a market value of $280 million as of late November.
“This growth story is likely to have a happy ending,” Hall said.
Vertos Presentations
Aliso Viejo medical device maker Vertos Medical Inc. said its “mild” procedure was featured in eight clinical presentations during the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine’s annual meeting in Phoenix.
“Mild” stands for minimally invasive lumbar decompression. It treats lumbar spinal stenosis, or a narrowing of the spinal canal, without major surgery. Vertos sells a number of devices that doctors use to perform such procedures.
The presentations covered a range of clinical data that demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of mild procedures for treating lumbar spinal stenosis, according to Vertos.
Grubb & Ellis Buy
A healthcare real estate unit of Santa Ana-based Grubb & Ellis Co. bought a medical office building in Sylva, N.C. Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II paid $11.4 million for the building, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Sylva Medical Office Building has three stories and 45,000 square feet of space. It is on the campus of Harris Regional Hospital, which has leased the building through 2025.
Grubb & Ellis said that its healthcare real estate unit has bought 21 buildings valued at $162 million.
Bits and Pieces:
Irvine dental laser maker Biolase Technology Inc. said that it had regained compliance with audit committee requirements for continued listing on Nasdaq. Biolase said it regained compliance following the appointment of Gregory Lichtwardt, chief financial officer of Mountain View-based medical device maker Conceptus Inc., to its board and audit committee … Mission Hospital said it started Mission Heritage Medical Group. The group is made up of four doctors who are board-certified in family and internal medicine. The group is affiliated with Mission’s hospital campuses in Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach, and CHOC Children’s at Mission Hospital.
