Irvine drug maker Allergan Inc. and Est & #233;e Lauder Cos.’ Clinique Laboratories Inc. have come out with a line of skincare products sold through doctors.
Clinique Medical only is sold at doctors offices, rather than at cosmetic counters in department stores.
New York-based Clinique developed and makes Clinique Medical. Allergan handles sales of the line through doctors, many of whom sell the company’s Botox and other medical cosmetic products.
The line includes a probiotic cleanser, a skin conditioner, a recovery week complex, an optimizing treatment cream and a daily sunscreen.
The products are designed to piggyback on several types of cosmetic procedures, including Botox Cosmetic injections for wrinkle removal, microdermabrasion and laser hair removal.
Americans spend more than $12 billion a year on cosmetic procedures, a situation that has likely moderated with the economic downturn.
Besides Botox, Aller-gan’s medical cosmetics include wrinkle filler Juv & #233;derm, breast implants under the Natrelle label and Lap-Band, a stomach banding system to fight obesity.
Allergan has worked with cosmetic companies before. Its Prevage skincare line is done with Elizabeth Arden Inc. of Florida.
The deal with Est & #233;e Lauder grew out of a chance meeting with Lynne Greene, Cli-nique’s president, Allergan Chief Exec-utive David Pyott said earlier this year.
“As we started talking, it was quite clear that we both had some very interesting strategic strengths that the other one didn’t,” Pyott said. “Really, when you step back from it, obviously you know Clinique is a famous brand name,it’s the biggest premium cosmetics brand both in the U.S. and Canada.”
Clinique’s strengths, which Pyott said included formulation skills, packaging and a “sensory positive experience,” were teamed with Allergan’s knowledge of what patients and doctors need and its strength in getting products into doctors’ offices.
Medical Device Forum
Some 200 medical device and diagnostic companies are coming to Costa Mesa later this week for the annual California Medical Device Forum sponsored by the Orange County Technology Action Network, or Octane.
Many of the county’s core device companies are set to participate, including Aller-gan, Santa Ana-based eye device maker Advanced Medical Optics Inc. and Edwards Lifesciences Corp., an Irvine maker of heart valves.
The event is scheduled to draw some other types of companies, including Irvine chipmaker Broadcom Corp.
And with the companies come their leaders. Several chief executives were tapped to speak at sessions, including James Mazzo of Advanced Medical, Michael Mussallem of Edwards Lifesciences and Donald Earhart, who runs I-Flow Corp., a Lake Forest maker of pumps that deliver anesthetic drugs for post-surgical pain relief.
Other confirmed participants include Versant Ventures, which has a Newport Beach office, the University of California, Irvine, the University of California, San Diego, the Food and Drug Admin-istration, which has an Irvine campus, and trade groups such as Washington, D.C.-based AdvaMed and the La Jolla-based California Healthcare Institute Inc.
Bits and Pieces:
QuickHealth Inc., a San Mateo-based medical clinic chain, opened a location in Santa Ana, inside the Farmacia Remedios pharmacy. QuickHealth clinics are designed to provide primary care through doctors and medical assistants Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo has opened a women’s wellness center in the Mission Medical Tower on its campus Irvine-based EDI-Health Group Inc.’s Dental XChange, a provider of software that allows dental offices to do things such as process insurance claims and check benefit eligibility, signed a deal with the Group Health Cooperative of Wisconsin to provide electronic transaction services between the insurer and one of its providers InstaMed Inc., a healthcare payment processor with offices in Newport Beach and Philadelphia, said the Summit Medical Group of Berkley Heights, N.J., is using its network and platform West Coast University in Costa Mesa said the California Board of Registered Nursing approved its plans to offer a bachelor’s degree in nursing. The first students will start classes in November.
