Allergan Inc.’s eventful June marched on last week when quirky stock guru Jim Cramer tabbed the Irvine drug maker as a hot stock during his “Mad Money” show on CNBC.
The reason: Allergan’s lineup of medical cosmetics, including bellwether Botox and Juv & #269;derm, the newly approved drug to smooth wrinkles and skin folds.
Cramer, in a roundup of topics from his show published on TheStreet.com, urged readers to “keep gold on your mind, but right now, we’re after vanity.”
“Vanity is en fuego,” Cramer said.
It may be time for investors to go after what Cramer called the “best of breeds in the cosmetic plays.”
“The only solid, dependable rock-hard bull market out there is in our own selfish, shallow vanity,” Cramer said.
Allergan got Food and Drug Administration clearance for Juv & #269;derm two weeks ago.
Juv & #269;derm came to Allergan in the company’s $3.2 billion buy of Inamed Corp., which closed in March.
Juv & #269;derm, which is made from naturally occurring skin substance hyaluronic acid, could become the dermal filler of choice among dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons, Cramer said.
Juv & #269;derm’s approval boosts Allergan’s cosmetic lineup.
Of course, Botox is the biggie. Earlier this year, Chief Executive David E.I. Pyott said Botox could be on its way to being the most recognized drug in the world.
Banc of America Securities’ David Maris also has upgraded Allergan based in part on the expectation that Juv & #269;derm and silicone breast implants acquired from Inamed would be growth catalysts for the drug maker.
Even with all the cosmetic hoopla, a good part of Allergan’s revenue still comes from its historical base of eye drugs.
Maris, in his report, cited European regulatory clearance of Ganfort, Allergan’s new eye drug, as a sales catalyst.
Report: Docs Balk at Pacif Care
The ongoing absorption of Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems into UnitedHealth Group Inc. is irking some Northern California doctors.
The San Francisco Business Times recently reported many Bay area doctors are declining to sign new preferred provider organization deals with Minnesota-based UnitedHealth, which replaced a network run by Blue Shield of California with PacifiCare’s PPO network.
The rub, according to the doctors: Reimbursement rates under the PacifiCare plan are up to 40% lower than the current contract, which ends this week.
A nurse who handles contracting for her husband’s pediatric cardiology practice told the Business Times the changeover is disorganized. She said she wasn’t able to get calls returned and feared patients with serious heart problems and their parents would have to change providers.
PacifiCare told the Business Times that the company is providing “competitive contracts.”
Contracting was “going extremely well in California,” spokeswoman Cheryl Randolph said.
The new network should provide access to more doctors and facilities statewide than the current contract, she said.
Those include an additional 1,100 primary care physicians, 1,500 specialists and 20 hospitals, according to Randolph.
“Each week, we are receiving hundreds of signed contracts from physicians across the state,” she said.
New Boss at Eye Device Maker
Thomas Frinzi is the new chief executive of Refractec Inc., an Irvine-based medical device maker.
Frinzi, who most recently was chief operating officer, replaces Mitch Campbell, who spent nine years at Refractec and has moved on to pursue other entrepreneurial ventures.
Frinzi has spent six years with Refractec. In his most recent job, he was responsible for the device maker’s day-to-day management, as well as global market growth for Refractec’s core NearVision CK laser surgery device to correct farsightedness in older people.
Frinzi started at Johnson & Johnson and has spent more than 25 years in the eye and medical device fields. His career includes stops at Bausch & Lomb Inc. as well as Chiron Vision Corp. and Iolab Corp., a pair of seminal Orange County device makers.
Bits & Pieces:
The Orange County Health Care Agency, Santa Ana, said it received $25 million toward expanding community mental health services through Proposition 63, which California voters approved in 2004 Metagenics Inc., San Clemente, bought Biodynamics NV, a Belgian maker of “nutraceutical” products. Terms weren’t disclosed Clarient Inc., Aliso Viejo, named James V. Agnello chief financial officer and senior vice president, starting this week. Agnello most recently was chief accounting officer, controller and division chief financial officer of Teleflex Inc., a manufacturing and engineering company. Agnello replaces Jay Roberts, who was interim chief financial officer since February, after the resignation of Stephen T.D. Dixon Cogent Healthcare Inc., Irvine, said it contracted with Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia to manage Temple’s hospitalist program. Hospitalists are doctors who practice exclusively at hospitals. Cogent said it and Temple would team up to provide teaching and non-teaching services, surgical co-management teams and medical consultation programs.
