51.5 F
Laguna Hills
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Biolase Changes Include Nugent as Permanent CEO

Irvine-based Biolase Inc. is making moves to build its executive and commercialization teams.

The maker of lasers used in dental and other medical procedures said last week that company director Jeffrey Nugent is now its permanent chief executive and president.

Nugent had served as acting chief executive since June. He succeeds Federico Pignatelli, who stepped down as chief executive in June and later left the company’s board.

Pignatelli served on Biolase’s board for 23 years and as chief executive for almost four years. He has said he left the device maker because of a “protracted campaign” by Greenwich, Conn.-based investor Oracle Partners LP and its managing partner, Larry Feinberg, “to disenfranchise independent directors through a series of calculated actions designed to isolate us and reduce our power.”

Nugent, who was previously president and chief executive of Ascension Orthopedics Inc., came to Biolase as a candidate of Oracle, which is Biolase’s largest shareholder, with a 19% stake.

Nugent’s “expertise in global commercialization, driving clinical excellence and his disciplined approach to operations is what we need at this critical time for Biolase,” Chairman Paul Clark said in a statement announcing Nugent’s permanent appointment.

Biolase named Dr. Alexander Arrow, a former company president and director, to the newly created position of chief medical officer, on the same day it announced Nugent’s appointment.

Arrow was a director of Biolase for four years and had been president and chief operating officer since 2013.

Arrow “will play an important role in broadening our technology and product portfolio and furthering our results in clinical development. I can think of no one better than Alex to lead our effort to recruit clinical investigators and manage all the stakeholders needed to create the clinical trial lineup we want,” Nugent said in a news release.

Nugent and Arrow weren’t the only recent additions to Biolase’s management ranks.

The company said it created a “global commercialization team” and hired a pair of executives to run its marketing and sales organizations.

Clark Barousse is Biolase’s new senior vice president for worldwide sales and account management. He will be responsible for customer acquisition and retention, among other things.

Orlando Rodrigues returns to Biolase as vice president and chief marketing officer.

Device Could Detect Adverse Effects

Masimo Corp., an Irvine patient monitor maker, said late last month that a study showed its Rainbow acoustic monitoring technology rapidly detected respiratory rate changes in anesthetized patients and could offer early identification of potential adverse events.

Dr. Joshua Atkins and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine examined data from 50 patients who had elective urological surgeries in operating rooms.

The researchers said in a news release that they found Masimo’s technology was able to provide “accurate estimates of respiratory rate changes over a wide range of respiratory rates. [Acoustic respiration rate measurement] is able to track changes in respiratory rate with minimal delay.

“To the extent that immediate knowledge of changes in respiratory rate is beneficial in early identification of patients at risk for adverse outcomes, [acoustic respiration rate] may be a useful clinical monitoring indicator,” the researchers said.

Story results were published in Anesthesia & Analgesia, an industry journal.

Bits & Pieces

Hoag Hospital Memorial Presbyterian’s Neuroscience Institute and Hoag Family Cancer Institute are introducing a program to treat pituitary gland tumors. Hoag hired Dr. Robert Louis, formerly of the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, to serve as program adviser. The hospital said in a release that Louis is trained in skull-based and minimally invasive brain tumor surgeries. … Mission Viejo-based Aeolus Pharmaceuticals Inc. said a clinical study in nonhuman primates showed 60 days of treatment with its AEOL 10150 drug candidate improved survival rates to 50% 180 days after radiation exposure to the lungs. … Irvine-based healthcare software maker Quality Systems Inc. participated in FBR & Co.’s inaugural healthcare industry conference this month in Boston. Chief Financial Officer Paul Holt represented Quality.

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-