Newport Beach healthcare software maker TriZetto Group Inc. recently played a business relationship into a new acquisition.
TriZetto said it was buying Boston-based CareKey Inc. for $60 million, plus an additional $40 million or more if the company reaches certain financial goals.
TriZetto helps health plans and benefits administrators manage data through software and Web sites. CareKey, a privately held company, runs Web sites that allow patients, doctors and insurers to track appointments and claims.
The companies are familiar with one another, having worked together since late 2003. They developed CareAdvance Enterprise, software that automates member details for health plans as well as for claims, eligibility, benefits and authorizations.
TriZetto Chief Executive Jeff Margolis said sales of CareAdvance have been “very solid” during the year and a half that it’s been sold.
“Therefore, it made sense to move beyond our current alliance,” Margolis said.
The deal, according to Margolis, “is a huge opportunity to increase TriZetto’s addressable market.” The company’s goal is to boost products that target the 80% to 90% of premiums that go to the actual cost of healthcare.
TriZetto said that directors of both companies have approved the deal. The buy is scheduled to close later this quarter.
The company expects the acquisition to boost its earnings next year.
TriZetto has been on a roll. At a recent check of $16.40, its shares are more than double the company’s 52-week low. TriZetto’s market value is $688 million.
Some 40 CareKey workers are set to join TriZetto.
Ido and Roy Schoenberg, the brothers who founded CareKey, are staying on at TriZetto as chief strategic development officer and chief Internet solutions officer, respectively. Both are doctors.
Rough Patch
The end of November was a tough one for Lake Forest-based Cooper Cos.
The maker of contact lenses and women’s surgical products lowered its profit and sales expectations for its most recent quarter. Investors dropped a hammer on Cooper’s shares, sending them down 21% on the day that news came out.
Cooper said it expected profit for the quarter ended Oct. 31 to be $36.7 million to $38 million, down from a previous range of $42.2 million to $43.7 million. It also said it expected its quarterly revenue to be $219 million to $222 million, compared with a previous target of $238 million to $242 million.
Cooper officials cited soft sales of its two-week contact lenses, foreign exchange issues and hurricane-related disruptions for dropping its outlook.
That’s not all.
A day before the forecast warning, Cooper’s shares fell 11% when it outlined plans to buy two surgical device companies.
The acquisitions of Houston-based NeoSurg Technologies Inc. and Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Inlet Medical Inc. are expected to negatively impact earnings during the next two years. Terms of the deals weren’t disclosed.
The company is set to release its earnings for the quarter ended Oct. 31 next week.
San Diego Combination
Irvine-based Thuris Corp. said it’s combining with Protein Polymer Technologies Inc., a San Diego company that trades on the low-profile bulletin board stock exchange.
The deal values Thuris at about $19 million, according to a release. The Orange County device maker will become a unit of Protein Polymer.
Thuris makes medical devices that aid in drug development and diagnosis of central nervous system disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment. Protein Polymer is a biotechnology device company that is a pioneer in protein design and synthesis.
Thuris also is working on developing drugs for certain central nervous system orphan and niche usages, including brain inflammations and Huntington’s disease.
Thuris received clearance for NeuroGraph from the Food and Drug Administration. NeuroGraph is a non-invasive medical device that assists doctors in diagnosing neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Thuris has been planning to market NeuroGraph to drug makers for enrollment and monitoring in central nervous system clinical trials.
Peregrine Stock Sale
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it plans to sell 8 million shares of its common stock to an unidentified institutional investor for $6.7 million.
The Tustin-based drug company said it would use the proceeds to pay for clinical trials for Tarvacin, its lead drug candidate for treating cancer and hepatitis C. It’s also set to use the funds to back collaborations with university researchers to study Peregrine drug candidate Cotara, which it hopes to use to treat brain cancer.
Meanwhile, Avid Biosciences, a Peregrine business unit, recently signed a manufacturing deal with the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, which is based in San Diego.
Avid is going to make a therapeutic antibody for Sidney Kimmel to test in animals.
Bits and Pieces:
Clarient Inc., San Juan Capistrano, signed a deal with Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co. to provide biopharmaceutical research services. Financial details weren’t disclosed. Clarient provides fee-based services to companies involved in drug discovery, particularly for cancer drugs … AMDL Inc., Tustin, said it plans to buy two Chinese drug makers from Jade Capital Group Ltd. of Hong Kong in a deal valued at about $4.2 million.
