Lake Forest medical device maker I-Flow Corp. bought a 15% piece of HAPC Inc.
I-Flow said in a statement that it bought the HAPC stake, made up of about 2.8 million shares, through private deals with third parties.
The price wasn’t disclosed. But shares of New York-based HAPC, which buys other healthcare companies, were trading at $5.45 a share on the Bulletin Board exchange when the deal was announced, pegging it at an estimated $15 million.
Wall Street was a bit wary. Investors sent I-Flow’s shares down 3% on Oct. 19, when the deal was announced. The company had a recent market value of $440 million.
I-Flow used its stake in HAPC to vote in favor of HAPC’s buy of Infusystem, an I-Flow unit that makes drug infusion pumps. The deal, which closed last week, gave I-Flow $100 million in cash and promissory notes. It also is set to be eligible for a performance-based payment of $12 million.
Beckman Sues for Infringement
Beckman Coulter Inc. of Fullerton has filed a patent lawsuit against HemoSense Inc. of San Jose, according to HemoSense.
Beckman, a maker of medical testing gear and supplies, alleges that HemoSense’s INRatio product, a blood clotting measurement instrument, infringes a patent that Beckman holds.
Beckman wants HemoSense to stop making the product and is seeking unspecified damages.
HemoSense, a maker of blood monitoring systems, said that it “intends to defend itself vigorously” against Beckman’s claims.
There’s a back story to the fight.
HemoSense is awaiting word on a proposed $167 million buyout bid by Inverness Medical Innovations of Waltham, Mass.
Beckman and Inverness traded buyout offers for Biosite Inc., a San Diego medical testing company, for six weeks during the spring. Beckman eventually bowed out after Biosite sided with a $1.6 billion bid from Inverness.
Generic Drug Industry Wary
A trade group that represents several large generic drug developers is skeptical of the Food and Drug Administration’s new plan to speed up its approval process and weed through a backlog of more than 1,000 applications.
Among the group: Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is just over the county line in Corona, led by OC resident Allen Chao, and Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., which has a sizable operation in Irvine.
The FDA said it plans to review applications for generic versions of drugs that have lost patent protection first, before moving on to applications for drugs that still are protected by patents.
The agency also said it plans to hire more reviewers to supplement its current 215 dedicated full-time staffers.
“While we all share the goal of increasing efficiency in the generic approval system, another initiative in name only simply will not get the job done,” said Kathleen Jaeger, chief executive of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, based in Arlington, Va.
Instead, the FDA needs to address “the core fundamental issues that are blocking timely consumer access to affordable generics,” Jaeger said.
Legislative and regulatory matters are some of those core issues,generic drug companies have long disliked tactics by branded drug developers to either block or delay generics from reaching the market.
Allergan To Open Division
Irvine-based Allergan Inc. isn’t holding it anymore.
Earlier this month, the drug maker completed a $370 million deal for Esprit Pharma Holding Co., an East Brunswick, N.J.-based maker of Sanctura, a drug to treat overactive bladders. An overactive bladder condition affects some 33 million Americans, according to Allergan.
Allergan will launch an extended-release version of Sanctura in the U.S. next year. Regulators cleared Sanctura in August.
The buy means Allergan is going to create a dedicated urologic drug division to further develop treatments for overactive bladder and other urologic disorders.
Allergan also is testing the therapeutic form of its flagship Botox drug as a potential overactive bladder treatment.
In fact, some on Wall Street noted that the Esprit deal was setting the stage for that potential use of Botox.
“The clear underlying reason for the acquisition, in our view, is to prepare for Allergan’s likely 2009 approval for Botox for the same indication. Esprit comes with 160 reps, a number which Allergan is likely to expand,” said Alexander Arrow, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets.
Besides Botox and Sanctura, Allergan makes eye and skin drugs and other cosmetic medical products, including breast implants. Allergan usually ranks either first or second among OC’s public companies in terms of market capitalization. At recent check, it had a market value of $19 billion.
Alcon Grew Workforce
A few weeks ago, our annual list of medical device makers that have significant operations in OC listed Alcon Laboratories Inc. with 630 workers.
Turns out we were low. Alcon got in touch with us and said their Irvine workforce has grown nearly 7% to 672 people in the past year.
Former St. Joe Exec
Ben Williams, a former senior vice president of information services and chief information officer for Orange-based St. Joseph Health System, now is the senior vice president/chief information officer for Catholic Healthcare West in San Francisco.
