Medical device maker Masimo Corp. is expanding its Irvine headquarters and plans to add about 200 workers this year.
Last month, the maker of patient monitoring devices and supplies said it moved into a 32,000-square-foot building next to its headquarters between the former El Toro Marine base and the Lake Forest city line.
Masimo now leases three buildings and 156,000 square feet of space.
The company expects to add about 100 people locally, according to Joe Kiani, cofounder and chief executive of Masimo.
“In 2010, we expect to hire about 200 new people, half of whom will be based in Irvine in the new building and the rest of the building spaces that have opened up,” Kiani said.
Sales, regulatory, some clinical research, marketing and training functions are going to be run out of the new building, Kiani said.
The company’s already moved some employees into the building, he said.
The remainder of Masimo’s hiring will be for field salespeople or for positions in the company’s other locations, Kiani said.
Masimo employs 2,100 worldwide, 475 in Orange County.
Products
The company makes devices that continuously measure oxygen and other substances in patients in operating and emergency rooms, intensive care units and other medical areas.
Most of Masimo’s $350 million in yearly sales come from reusable and disposable sensors used with its devices.
The company had looked at moving to another location and buying its own building, Kiani said.
“There was one building that we almost bought, but for various reasons, we backed out of it,” he said. “Our current landlord made us a very good offer in order to keep us here, and we took them up on it.”
Masimo rents its buildings from Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., according to CoStar Group Inc.
The new building “should hold us hopefully for a few years,” Kiani said.
If Masimo looks to move again, the company would stay in the county, according to Kiani.
“We like it here,” he said.
Some analysts view the expansion and other recent updates by Masimo as positive signs.
Masimo should enjoy “good growth opportunities” in 2010, said Matt Dolan, an analyst with Newport Beach-based Roth Capital Partners LLC, in a recent note to clients.
The company has “provided a slew of updates” in recent weeks, Dolan said.
For one, Masimo recently said it again prevailed in court over a longtime rival.
Earlier this month, Masimo said the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco affirmed a 2006 lower court decision that Covidien Ltd., formerly Tyco Healthcare, violated antitrust laws with sales of its Nellcor pulse oximeters, which also monitor oxygen levels in patients.
Massachusetts-based Covidien claimed a partial victory in the decision as the appeals court upheld a decision to reduce a jury award from $420 million to $43.5 million plus legal fees.
Masimo’s not going to collect all of the damages. About half of them will go to its law firm because it was filed on contingency, Kiani said.
What was more important to Masimo was that the appeals court found that Covidien violated antitrust laws with hospital purchasing contracts as well as something called “bundling,” Kiani said.
Bundling is giving discounts on products not related to pulse oximeters when customers purchase the devices.
That made it difficult for hospitals to choose Masimo’s pulse oximeters, Kiani said.
Hospital Conversion
Masimo also recently said that New York-based Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center finished a conversion to Masimo’s pulse oximeters.
As part of the conversion, Brookdale University Hospital also will use Masimo’s technology for continuously monitoring hemoglobin, a protein that carries oxygen in the blood.
And Masimo recently said its new employee healthcare plan should keep its healthcare costs flat this year at $6 million.
Most OC companies saw a 6.5% rise in healthcare costs for this year, according to a recent survey by Hewitt Associates LLC.
Masimo’s new program is a traditional preferred provider organization plan combined with 100% coverage for preventative care.
Employees also can earn cash rewards for reaching certain health goals starting next year, Kiani said.
