Irvine-based patient monitor maker Masimo Corp. is planning to focus on “four key priorities” as 2013 unfolds.
Chief Executive Joe Kiani said his company wants to continue to grow faster than its hospital-ward and pulse-oximetry markets in general; capitalize on the SpHb hemoglobin monitor’s “potential to dramatically lower hospitals’ blood management costs and save lives;” expand sales in non-hospital markets; and boost research and development.
Masimo hopes to address two of those priorities by forming a separate blood management sales and clinical team for its SpHb hemoglobin-monitoring products. The new team is expected to be in place by next year and will eventually have 60 sales representatives, including 40 in the U.S.
The new team will be led by longtime Masimo executive Rick Fishel, who has served as president of the device maker’s original equipment manufacturer business and corporate development.
“Combined with the Better Care program, we believe SpHb has the potential to generate strong growth in the Rainbow category for Masimo in the coming years,” Matt Dolan, an analyst with Newport Beach-based Roth Capital Partners LLC, said in a research note.
Masimo also said that it wanted to boost the performance of its Pronto-7 monitor, a hand-held patient monitor. It’s making a sales push with doctors’ offices.
Dolan noted, however, that it might have to chart a new course for Pronto-7 if sales “do not begin hitting” the company’s internal expectations.
Masimo also wants to sell Pronto-7 to other non-hospital settings, according to Kiani.
He noted that Libya is set to become the first country to use the Pronto-7 to screen potential blood donors for low hemoglobin levels in its blood donation centers.
“We see the blood donation market as a key opportunity for the Pronto-7, which provides quick, noninvasive spot-check hemoglobin, SpO2, pulse rate and perfusion index measurement,” Kiani said.
Kiani also thanked call participants for “joining us and becoming our Valentine” at the beginning of the conference call, when Masimo reported its financial results on Feb. 14.
The company posted a fourth-quarter profit of $15 million, up 9% from a year ago but below Wall Street estimates of $16.3 million.
Fourth-quarter revenue came in at $132.2 million, above expectations of $129.1 million.
Masimo earned $62.3 million on revenue of $464.9 million for all of 2012.
The company also gave guidance for 2013.
It said it could post a full-year profit of $66.3 million. Analysts expect Masimo’s full-year profit to come in at $70.3 million.
Masimo said it expects full-year revenue of $548 million, above Wall Street estimates of $541.2 million in 2013.
“We’ve come a long way since our IPO five years ago, and … we look forward to reporting our progress as we execute the second half of our long-term plan over the next five years,” Kiani said.
Kaiser’s Foothill Ranch Office
Kaiser Permanente has opened its 22nd local medical office, a 36,000-square-foot space on Towne Centre Drive in Foothill Ranch.
The facility will have several services, including a pharmacy and a lab for blood drawing for Kaiser Permanente members. It will also include a full nursing staff, pediatricians and family medicine doctors, according to a press release.
Oakland-based Kaiser, a nonprofit that operates the largest health maintenance organization in OC, has more than 455,000 HMO members in Orange County. It also operates two hospitals: one in Irvine and a new facility located on La Palma Avenue in Anaheim.
Alliance Healthcare to Nasdaq
Newport Beach-based Alliance HealthCare Services Inc. recently moved its common stock listing to the Nasdaq Global Market.
The medical-imaging company’s shares previously traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its ticker symbol of AIQ is unchanged.
Being on Nasdaq “will enable [Alliance] to maintain and enhance its corporate visibility and trading liquidity as we continue to execute on our strategic growth initiatives,” Larry Buckelew, Alliance’s chairman and interim chief executive, said in a release.
Bits and Pieces
Newport Beach-based Maddox Practice Group has been acquired for an undisclosed amount by diversified dental company Henry Schein Inc. in Melville, N.Y. Maddox is what’s known as a “practice transition group.” It helps dentists buy and sell dental practices, among other things. … San Clemente-based device maker ICU Medical Inc. said company management will make a presentation on Tuesday during the 2013 RBC Capital Markets Global Healthcare Conference in New York. … Disc Surgery Center in Newport Beach said that Dr. Christopher Duma is now offering a medical procedure called deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease on an outpatient basis.
Deep brain stimulation occurs when implanted wires conduct a fine electrical impulse to shut down areas of the brain that cause symptoms of the ailment.
