Units with an Orange County presence helped drive improved financial performance for Danaher Corp.’s third quarter, according to company executives.
The Washington, D.C.-based conglomerate reported a profit of $1.4 billion, up 106% from the $681 million reported for the same period a year earlier. Revenue grew 7% to $5 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30.
Danaher units with local operations include Brea-based Beckman Coulter Inc., which makes diagnostic testing products; Orange-based dental products maker KaVo Kerr Group; and dental implant maker Nobel Biocare, which employs an estimated 295 people in Yorba Linda.
Danaher Chief Executive Tom Joyce mentioned on a recent earnings call that dental revenue shot up 23% to $652 million in the quarter, largely due to its 2014 deal for Nobel.
“Nobel Biocare is approaching its first anniversary at Danaher and delivered another quarter of solid results,” Joyce said.
He added that the business’ growth is being fueled by NobelClinician, an implant workflow management software.
Sales in Danaher’s life sciences and diagnostics unit, which includes Beckman Coulter, were up 14.5% in the quarter to $2 billion.
“Specifically, at Beckman Coulter, core revenue grew low single digits, driven by our immunoassay and urinalysis products,” Joyce said.
Allegro Adds Execs
San Juan Capistrano-based Allegro Ophthalmics LLC has appointed two new members to its executive team.
Allegro is developing drugs to treat vitreoretinal diseases. Its lead drug candidate is Luminate.
Scott Cooper is Allegro’s new chief financial officer and vice president of business development.
He most recently served as chief financial officer of WaveTec Vision Systems Inc., an Aliso Viejo-based eye device maker that was sold to Alcon Inc., a Fort Worth, Texas-based unit of Novartis AG in Switzerland. Cooper was also controller for IntraLase Corp. in Irvine. IntraLase was sold in 2007 to Santa Ana-based Advanced Medical Optics Inc., now Abbott Medical Optics.
Dr. Mohamed Genead is Allegro’s executive medical director. He comes to Allegro from Allergan Inc., which was based in Irvine and is now Allergan PLC. Genead served as global medical director of clinical development in Allergan’s ophthalmology and retina therapeutics area, where he was over projects such as the DARPin therapy for age-related macular degeneration.
“Scott’s incredibly successful record at WaveTec and IntraLase [Corp.] demonstrates how exceptionally well-prepared he is to lead Allegro’s finance and business development functions,” said Hampar Karageozian, the drugmaker’s chief executive and co-founder.
“Mohamed’s exceptional 15 years of clinical research and drug development experience in retina will serve Allegro well as we move [Luminate] through multiple clinical trials for several vitreoretinal indications,” Karageozian added.
Wearable Ventilator
A clinical study using a wearable ventilator made by Irvine-based Breathe Technologies Inc. showed that availability of the device was associated with a significant increase in use of the product and improvements in the overall respiratory health status in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Breathe said in a news release that the study examined 16 stable, oxygen-dependent patients with moderate to very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who wore Breathe’s device as a complement to their standard medical care regimens.
Researchers estimated that there were total healthcare cost reductions of between 68% and 96% for the patients.
Study results were presented at the American College of Chest Physicians’ annual meeting in Montreal.
Hospitals Highlighted
Several Orange County hospitals were recently recognized by San Ramon-based Collaborative Alliance for Nursing Outcomes, a quality-measuring organization, for their performance in reducing hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, injuries from falls, and infections.
Los Alamitos Medical Center and Mission Hospital-Laguna Beach were recognized for performance excellence in reducing hospital-acquired pressure ulcers. Kaiser Permanente Medical Center Anaheim and UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange were recognized for reducing injury falls.
Fountain Valley Regional Hospital Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center Irvine, Los Alamitos, Placentia-Linda Hospital and UC Irvine were recognized for performance excellence in reducing central-line-associated bloodstream infections.
