Irvine-based HCP Inc. recently made plans to sell $750 million in senior unsecured notes with an eye toward using the proceeds to fund more deals.
The real estate investment trust owns a variety of healthcare-related properties, including nursing homes, senior housing and medical office buildings.
It said it should generate net proceeds of $736.5 million from the offering.
HCP said it plans to use some of the proceeds to fund a previously reported portfolio of 35 private-pay senior housing buildings worth $849 million from Ontario, Canada-based Chartwell Retirement Residences that it’s acquiring in a joint venture with Brookdale Senior Living Inc. of Brentwood, Tenn.
Chicago-based Zacks Investment Service weighed in on the HCP move:
“In the wake of retiring baby boomers, national health expenditure is projected to increase over the coming years with senior citizens incurring higher medical expenses compared with the average population,” Zacks said in a blog post. “Amid this, we believe HCP is well poised to grow with its diversified portfolio.”
Zacks mentioned, among other things, that HCP had strengthened the master lease on the portfolio of its largest tenant, Toledo, Ohio-based HCR Manor Care Inc., as well as agreed to sell 50 nonstrategic buildings.
Peregrine Partnership
Tustin-based drug developer Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. said late last month that it will work with New York-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to investigate one of its antibody platforms.
Peregrine is developing various cancer drugs.
It said in a news release that the research’s goal is to “identify effective treatment combinations” based on the company’s drug candidates, including its lead antibody, bavituximab, with other agents.
“We are delighted to be working with a world-renowned pioneer and leader in the immune-oncology [field], recognizing that there remains significant research in order for more cancer patients to realize the benefits of combination immune therapy,” said Jeff Hutchins, Peregrine’s vice president of preclinical research.
Innovation Institute Firm Honored
La Palma-based Petra Integrated Construction Strategies LLC said it received awards from a pair of organizations for its work on St. Jude Medical Center’s Northwest Tower project in Fullerton.
Petra is a subsidiary company of the Innovation Institute, which is also based in La Palma. The institute was established in 2013 with an investment from Orange-based St. Joseph Health. Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange also is an owner.
The institute is a nonprofit designed for development of healthcare-related products and services. It also includes an incubator for medical technology, plus an investment fund.
Petra, which grew out of St. Joseph Health’s in-house design and construction group, won the awards from the International Partnering Institute and the Design-Build Institute of America.
St. Jude used a design-build model for its Northwest Tower, which was constructed for $225 million and completed five months early and 40% under budget.
FDA Clears VertiFlex Device
San Clemente-based device maker VertiFlex Inc. said late last month that the Food and Drug Administration issued a premarket approval order for its Superion Interspinous Spacer device.
The order clears the way for commercializing the device, which is used to treat moderate lumbar spinal stenosis, or curvature of the spine.
VertiFlex said in a news release that the approval order followed a February FDA advisory panel meeting that found Superion demonstrated “safety, effectiveness and a favorable risk benefit profile” based on the results of a 470-patient multicenter clinical trial.
Device Maker Head Named
John Gerace, a trustee of the University of California-Irvine Foundation and a UC Irvine alumnus, is the new chief executive of San Diego-based Freedom Meditech Inc.
Freedom Meditech makes the ClearPath DS-120, a noninvasive device used by eye care professionals, diabetologists and other healthcare practitioners to measure autofluorescence in the eye.
The company made the announcement of Gerace’s appointment on the same day it raised $4.8 million in a third round of venture financing.
Gerace has more than 25 years of experience in the medical device industry, including 6 ½ years with Carlsbad-based Life Technologies, which is now part of Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
