Orange County’s 29 largest medical device makers added 960 jobs during the 12 months ended in August, up 6% from a year ago.
The companies combined to employ 16,636 people in the county. Entries on the Business Journal’s annual list are companies either based in Orange County or that have large operations here.
Medical device makers have been core players in the county’s economy over the years and have enjoyed five years of growth, including a 3% increase in employment for the companies that were on 2012’s list. Device makers in Orange County produce products in various categories, such as replacement heart valves; other implantable devices, such as defibrillators; lasers used for eye surgery; catheters; and surgical instruments.
Eleven of the companies on this year’s list added jobs; five reported fewer workers; and seven reported flat numbers. Totals for three companies are Business Journal estimates, and three other companies couldn’t be compared because their previous numbers were estimates.
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. once again was the largest employer on the list.
Edwards said its local workforce grew 18% to 2,978 people.
“We have been fortunate to have the opportunity to add key talent worldwide during the last several years,” said Edwards spokesperson Sarah Huoh. “As we have increased our sales of innovative technologies, and also increased investment in R&D and infrastructure to support our growth, we have added talent in our R&D, manufacturing and customer-facing functions both in the U.S. and abroad.”
The maker of replacement heart valves became the device sector’s local employment leader in 2009. That’s when it posted a 10% jobs hike and passed traditional leader Beckman Coulter Inc.
Washington, D.C.-based conglomerate Danaher Corp. acquired Beckman, a Brea-based maker of medical testing machines and supplies, in 2011.
Edwards’ highlights included gaining an expanded approval for its Edwards Sapien less-invasive heart valve last October.
It also had a German patent win over Medtronic Inc., as well as a $750 million stock buyback. Edwards is also hunting for a new chief financial officer after Thomas Abate announced he would retire.
n Rancho Santa Margarita-based Applied Medical Resources Corp. remained the No. 2 device maker. It said its OC workforce grew 19% to 1,841.
Applied makes catheters, stents, clamps, guide wires and devices used in laparascopic surgeries.
The private company has been in a battle with Menlo Park-based shareholder Institutional Venture Partners, which owns about 20% of Applied.
Applied in June filed a request with the Securities and Exchange Commission to withdraw a planned initial public offering that IVP had been pushing. The IPO, if it goes through, is projected to raise $24.8 million through the sale of 730,000 common shares.
The device maker claimed in its filing that selling stockholders and San Francisco-based underwriter WR Hambrecht + Co. “have not responded to comments and questions regarding the contemplated offering from [SEC] staff for over two months.”
SEC officials haven’t acted on Applied’s request.
n Beckman rose to No. 3 on this year’s list. The company said it had 1,400 workers in Orange County, up 4% from a year ago.
n Beckman surpassed B. Braun Medical Inc., a Pennsylvania-based company with a plant in Irvine and a warehouse in Westminster. The No. 4 device maker said its workforce fell 7% to 1,300 employees. B. Braun Medical is part of German device maker B. Braun Melsungen AG.
n Tustin-based MicroVention Inc., a unit of Terumo Corp. in Japan, jumped to No. 5, a year after its debut. MicroVention, which makes devices to treat cerebral aneurysms, reported 1,000 Orange County workers, up 33% from a year ago.
Terumo has roughly $4 billion in sales, and operations in more than 160 countries.
n No. 6 Alcon Research Ltd., a unit of Fort Worth, Texas-based Alcon Inc., reported having 829 local workers, about flat from a year ago.
Alcon is in the process of moving its local operation to three buildings in the Serrano Creek office park in Lake Forest from its longtime Alton Parkway location in Irvine.
n Medtronic Heart Valves is the list’s No. 7 entry. It reported having 700 workers at a Santa Ana plant that’s intended to be a “center of excellence” for tissue heart valves. The unit, which is part of Minneapolis-based Medtronic, is a competitor of Edwards. Its employment remained flat from last year.
n Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. in Tustin remained at No. 8 with 695 local jobs, down from 698 in the 12-month period ended in August 2012.
Toshiba America is a unit of Japan-based Toshiba Corp.
It distributes, services, markets and sells various devices, including ultrasound and computed tomography.
n Covidien PLC rose five spots to take the No. 9 position. It said it had 670 workers in Irvine. The Ireland-based conglomerate has concentrated its neurovascular unit, which makes devices that treat strokes, in Irvine. It opened a research and development center in 2012.
n No. 10 Abbott Medical Optics said its Orange County employment grew 3% to 606.
The maker of eye surgery devices and contact lens products had a big job change at the start of the year, when Murthy Simhambhatla took over as president from James Mazzo, who led the company since the 2002 spinoff from Irvine-based Allergan Inc. that created what was then known as Advanced Medical Optics Inc.
Simhambhatla told the Business Journal this year that Mazzo, who spent 32 years with AMO and Allergan, “infected me with his enthusiasm for ophthalmology” after the two met in 2010. Simhambhatla was working for Ibis Biosciences, another unit of Chicago-based parent Abbott Laboratories, at the time.
Simhambhatla also shared his goals as Abbott Medical’s new leader.
“It’s fair to say that with aging populations worldwide and with cataract surgery so underpenetrated in many developing countries, vision care is a growing area of patients,” he said. “My goal at AMO is to build on this rich legacy in ophthalmology to deliver [products] to help doctors manage their patients more effectively. That’s a relentless focus.”
Abbott Medical made its first deals under Simhambhatla’s leadership in July. It bought Sunnyvale-based OptiMedica Corp., an eye-surgery laser maker, in a deal that could be worth $400 million, provided certain milestones are met.
The company also bought Brazilian distributor Vistatek for an undisclosed price.
Download the 2013 OC’s LARGEST MEDICAL DEVICE MAKERS list (pdf)
