Brea-based Veterinary Pet Insurance Inc., a provider of health insurance for pets that’s been through some recent turmoil, has a new chief executive.
Veterinary Pet named Dennis Drent, who has worked in the insurance, financial services and accounting fields, as its leader earlier this month.
Drent replaces James Carney, who was Veterinary Pet’s acting chief executive. Carney is set to return to his role as an underwriting vice president for Scottsdale Insurance Co., Veterinary Pet’s majority owner.
Before joining Veterinary Pet, Drent was senior vice president of internal audits for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. of Columbus, Ohio, which owns Scottsdale and Veterinary Pet.
Previously, Drent served as a partner in Ernst & Young LLP’s internal audit outsourcing practice.
Drent has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and is a certified public accountant.
His appointment comes after a period of turmoil for Veterinary Pet, which calls itself the country’s oldest and largest health insurer for pets.
Jack Stephens, Veterinary Pet’s founder, retired and resigned from its board in September, amid a probe to determine whether the company reported accurate financial data to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Stephens’ wife, Vicki, and son, Richard, also retired from the company at the time.
Vicki Stephens was Veterinary Pet’s vice president of licensing. Richard Stephens served as vice president of quality control. The Stephens trio had been placed on paid administrative leave a year ago.
The Stephens family, according to a federal filing, still owns about 5.5% of the company and has options to buy an extra 4.2%.
Jack Stephens, a veterinarian, founded Veterinary Pet in 1980. He now has turned his attention to charitable endeavors, the company said, including the Skeeter Foundation, which has a “continuing mission of supporting the human-animal bond, better healthcare and insurance for all pets.”
Veterinary Pet’s decision to form an alliance with Iams Corp., the Dayton, Ohio-based pet food maker, brought scrutiny upon the company, particularly from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the animal-rights group.
The insurance company has said it hired Deloitte & Touche LLP to audit its operations.
Veterinary Pet files financial reports with the SEC, though its stock isn’t publicly traded.
Device Maker Going Public
Volcano Corp., a medical device maker that moved to the Sacramento area from Laguna Hills in 2003, is planning an initial public offering next year.
Volcano Chief Executive Scott Huennekens told the Sacramento Business Journal he expects the offering to pump $70 million into the company.
“Cash fuels your growth,” Huennekens told the newspaper. “It’s easier as a public company to acquire other technologies or companies you might want to roll into your business model.”
Volcano makes products to diagnose and treat heart disease. Its lead product is an intravascular ultrasound imaging system that creates pictures of the inside of an artery.
The company is projecting revenue of $80 million this year, Huennekens said. Volcano got its ultrasound device in 2003 from Jomed NV, a Netherlands-based device company.
Volcano has had no trouble attracting venture capital investors, including Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic Inc. and Domain Associates, a firm with offices in Laguna Niguel and Princeton, N.J.
Cardiac, Quinton Closer to Deal
Shareholders suing Cardiac Science Inc. agreed to drop their lawsuit against the company in exchange for more details on its pending sale to Quinton Cardiology Systems Inc.
Cardiac makes heart defibrillators.
Irvine-based Cardiac said lawyers for those suing agreed to dismiss a class-action lawsuit against the company. In exchange, Cardiac said it would disclose more about the deal in upcoming regulatory filings.
The company also said an institutional shareholder in a related case entered into the same settlement.
A final pact to end the litigation is subject to approval by a Delaware court.
Cardiac and Quinton, based in Bothell, Wash., agreed to combine in February under the Cardiac Science name. Quinton shareholders are set to get about three-quarters of a share in the new company for each share of Quinton stock they own.
The deal is set to close this quarter. When the deal’s completed, Orange County will lose a corporate headquarters as Cardiac plans to move administrative functions to Bothell. Cardiac plans to keep research and development, along with sales and marketing, in Lake Forest.
Bits and Pieces:
Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc., Irvine, made a presentation last month at the Thomas Weisel Partners Growth Forum in San Francisco. Ista Chief Executive Vince Anido updated attendees on the eye drug maker’s commercial and clinical progress Charles Rosen, a founding director of the Spine Center at the University of California, Irvine, Medical Center, said he performed a new type of minimally invasive back surgery. The procedure, in which Rosen fused the front of the spine without having to go through the abdomen, was developed in Brazil and recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
