Irvine-based dental laser maker Biolase Inc. followed up last week’s dismissal of rumors that Chief Executive Federico Pignatelli would leave after the appointment of an industry veteran as president and chief operating officer, both new positions at the company.
Dr. Alexander Arrow arrives from a post as chief medical and strategic officer of Menlo Park-based Circuit Therapeutics Inc. He also had a five-year stint as head of medical technology equity research at New York-based investment bank Lazard.
Arrow brings some familiarity with Biolase to his new duties. He has served the maker of lasers for dental and medical procedures as a director since 2010.
Arrow said Biolase’s technology has great potential through strategic partnerships in orthopedics, ophthalmology, ear, nose and throat, podiatry and dermatology.
Its dental market alone makes the company an “extraordinary growth opportunity,” Arrow said in a statement.
“I have one of the most exciting jobs in all of med tech,” Arrow said, noting that all of those technology applications had Food and Drug Administration clearance and broad patent protection.
Arrow’s appointment came a day after rumors of Pignatelli’s departure were refuted by Biolase, which acted in response to “inquiries from a significant number of shareholders.”
Biolase said “there is absolutely no truth to rumors that [Pignatelli] would resign from the board or the company. Mr. Pignatelli is and will remain chairman and CEO, as he was elected in August 2010. He is fully engaged in all aspects of [Biolase’s] business, as he will continue to be.”
Pignatelli, who owns about 5% of Biolase, added in the statement that he was “fully committed” to the company now and for the future.
Biolase said in March that Pignatelli would continue to draw a “symbolic annual cash salary” of $1 for 2013.
Pignatelli said at the time that he believed “a CEO’s compensation should be tied only to the financial performance of the companies they lead.”
He has worked on a turnaround of Biolase since he took over as chief executive. The company’s shares are up 113% since the start of the year, with a recent market value of about $128.2 million.
Biolase also named Dr. Fredric Moll as a new director last week.
Moll is the founder of Sunnyvale-based Intuitive Surgical Inc., the maker of the da Vinci robot used in surgery.
He is now chief executive of Auris Surgical Robotics Inc., which is based in the Bay Area community of Moffett Field and develops dual-arm microsurgical devices used in eye surgery.
Separately, Biolase said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a new patent covering the use of its lasers for treating a variety of eye conditions. Those conditions include presbyopia, cataracts and glaucoma.
Biolase said it now holds 20 issued and 20 pending U.S. and international patents in the ophthalmology field.
New CEO at Hoag Orthopedic
The Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Irvine named Dereesa Purtell Reid its new chief executive.
Reid will retain her responsibilities as the specialty hospital’s chief operating officer, in addition to the assumption of her new duties.
Dr. Carlos Prietto, who preceded Reid as chief executive, will assume a newly established position of president at Hoag Orthopedic, which is made up of a 70-bed hospital within Hoag Hospital Irvine and a pair of outpatient specialty clinics.
Reid has more than 15 years of experience in hospital operations and leadership. She was previously assistant vice president of financial and operational positions at the St. Joseph Health:Covenant Health System in Lubbock, Texas. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
Bits and Pieces
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Irvine-based healthcare software provider Quality Systems Inc., said its NextGen Electronic Dental Record version 4.3 is compliant with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s 2014 edition criteria. Dentists who use the record could be qualified to receive money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. … The California Nurses Association said its member nurses who are at hospitals in Apple Valley, Eureka and Petaluma owned by Irvine-based St. Joseph Health reached tentative contract agreements. … Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills said its center for advanced wound healing received a center of excellence award from Healogics, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based provider of wound care.
