Advanced Medical Optics Inc., a Santa Ana-based maker of contact lens and eye surgery products, cut its earnings estimates for the year last week but upped its 2007 sales guidance as it tweaks its strategy.
The company lowered its projected 2005 profit to $96 million to $100 million, down from the $109 million to $116 million Advanced Medical had expected.
Projected sales for the year could be $920 million to $930 million, according to Advanced Medical.
The company held to its 2006 outlook of $145 million to $152 million in profit on sales of $1.02 billion to $1.04 billion.
Advanced Medical said it plans to quit some “non-core” cataract and eye care products by the end of this year to focus on its profitable businesses, including lens implant and laser surgery. More details about the plan are due in early November, along with the company’s third-quarter earnings.
The tweaking is part of a broader repositioning strategy that started in 2002, when Advanced Medical was created with Irvine-based Allergan Inc.’s decision to spin off its eye surgery and contact lens product business.
Advanced Medical sees the move paying off with higher sales in 2007. The company said it expects sales of $1.1 billion to $1.12 billion in 2007, up from an earlier view of $1.08 billion to $1.1 billion. Profits could come in at $175 million or more for 2007, unchanged from the company’s earlier view.
Advanced Medical has made two big buys since spinning off from Allergan, acquiring Pfizer Inc.’s eye surgery business and buying Visx Inc., a Santa Clara-based laser maker. The company also has increased its research and development spending.
The company makes cleaning and disinfecting solutions for contact lenses as well as intraocular lenses and devices used in cataract and vision correction surgery. Advanced Medical counted a market value of $2.3 billion last week.
UCI Device Conference
Innovation, a favorite buzzword of medical device industry figures, is the theme of a biomedical event set for next month at the University of California, Irvine.
The Healthcare and Biopharma Student Association at UCI’s Paul Merage School of Business is hosting its second medical device conference, “Innovation Under Constraints” at the Beckman Center on the UC Irvine campus on Nov. 18.
Topics include an overview of the Orange County device industry, a “critical issues” panel discussion that includes innovation versus cost of healthcare; Food and Drug Administration regulations and venture capital.
Kenneth Lickel, vice president and general manager of Alcon Laboratories Inc.’s Irvine facility, is the keynote speaker. Lickel’s talk is set to address the impact of FDA regulations on medical device innovations.
Other scheduled participants include Mark Harty, a vice president for Edwards Lifesciences Corp., Irvine; John Onopchenko, a vice president of Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., the venture capital subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson; Vicki Dallas, chair of Costa Mesa-based Rutan & Tucker LLP’s life sciences group; Thomas Buchmueller, a UCI professor who directs the university’s Center for Healthcare Policy; and Gary Augusta, executive director of the Orange County Technology Action Network.
Eyeonics Eyes Offering
Eyeonics Inc., a venture-funded device company based in Aliso Viejo, recently gave a progress report. Eyeonics makes Crystalens, an intraocular lens that’s used in cataract surgical procedures.
The company said in a release that it has selected investment bankers “to begin exploring the potential for an initial public offering” of its shares, but didn’t give specific details.
The device maker also said its third-quarter sales grew 51% to $5 million from $3.3 million in the second quarter, specifically thanks to what it called increased rates of Crystalens adoption by eye surgeons. Some 450 surgeons are using Crystalens, up 40% since May, when the federal Medicare program revised its reimbursement policy for cataract lens surgery by allowing its beneficiaries the option of electing to have Crystalens as an implant, the company said.
Eyeonics is near profitability but didn’t give specifics.
Bits and Pieces:
UCI Medical Center, Orange, said it received a $2.7 million, four-year grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study the effects of exercise on improved body weight and strength for premature infants. Separately, the hospital opened a urological care center on its campus. The 6,500-square-foot facility has 10 exam rooms, two recovery rooms and six procedure rooms. The center’s designed to treat a range of urology issues, ranging from urinary incontinence, prostate cancer to kidney disease Western Medical Center-Santa Ana was verified as a Level II trauma center by the American College of Surgeons Renal Advantage Inc., Nashville, Tenn., completed its buy of 70 kidney dialysis centers in nine states, including locations in Fountain Valley, Westminster, Irvine, Tustin and Garden Grove. Renal Advantage bought the centers from rival DaVita Inc., which bought Gambro, another player in the dialysis market. The Federal Trade Commission ordered DaVita to sell the centers to satisfy antitrust concerns.
