It’s gotten harder for Orange County’s fastest-growing public companies to defy gravity.
The 41 fastest-growing public companies based here posted revenue of $29 billion for the 12 months through June, up 31% from the same period in 2007.
The growth rate, while impressive, is markedly slower than that posted by companies on our list for the past few years.
A year ago, the fastest-growing public companies here posted a three-year revenue growth rate of 93%. In 2007, the companies on our list were up by 56%.
And there’s another big difference this year. Our list was cut to 41 companies from 50 last year and in years past.
The economic downturn that played out in earnest in the past 12 months crimped growth for many, making it harder for companies to qualify for our list.
Several companies that ranked on the list last year now have lower revenue than they did in June 2007 and fell off the ranking.
The shakeout led to a pretty dramatic reworking of the list, with a new No. 1 and changes throughout.
While the names are different, this year’s list again is dominated by smaller public companies.
Topping the list is No. 1 Tustin-based Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is making its debut.
The drug developer had sales of $23.3 million for the 12 months through June, up 380% from the same period in 2007.
Peregrine didn’t make our list last year as it had no revenue for 12 months through June 2008 and minimal revenue for 2007.
The company still doesn’t have a drug on the market but has seen sales surge from government contracts and contract manufacturing done for drug makers.
Last year, the Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency gave Peregrine a contract worth up to $44.4 million to develop and test treatments for viral hemorrhagic fever, a type of viral infection.
“Over the past year, that’s been (a) driver of our revenue growth,” said Steve King, Peregrine’s chief executive.
Peregrine also gets revenue from contract drug manufacturing through its subsidiary Avid Bioservices. Customers include Swiss drug maker Roche Holding Ltd., along with smaller players such as Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. of San Diego and San Francisco-based Catalyst Biosciences Inc.
“Since (2002), we’ve been able to grow that business very nicely,” King said of Avid.
Peregrine dislodged 2008’s fastest growing public company, what’s now Tustin-based Radient Pharmaceuticals Corp., formerly AMDL Inc.
Radient, which changed its name last month, now ranks No. 2 with 346% revenue growth for the three years through June 30.
The flip-flop isn’t unusual: The fastest-growing public companies list by its nature tends to see a new top company almost every year.
Radient, a maker of drugs and medical testing products, had revenue of $26.3 million for the 12 months through June, up from $5.9 million for the same period in 2007.
The company’s grown with sales in China and the commercialization of its Onko-Sure cancer diagnostic test.
Customers include stores, hospitals, doctors, clinics and medical laboratories.
In all, healthcare companies make up seven of the top 10 companies on the list, a nod to how the industry has held up better than others during the downturn.
Healthcare companies also made up seven of the top 10 last year.
The other top 10 healthcare entries: No. 3 Irvine drug maker Spectrum Pharmaceu-ticals Inc.; No. 4 Aliso Viejo-based Clarient Inc., a provider of cancer testing services; No. 6 Irvine-based medical device maker Endologix Inc.; No. 7 Irvine-based eye drug maker Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and No. 9 SenoRx Inc., an Irvine maker of medical devices used to diagnose and treat breast cancer.
New Companies
This year’s list includes three companies that cracked into the top 10.
No. 5 Irvine-based Local.com Corp. posted 152% revenue growth for the three years through June 30 with sales of $45 million for the most recent 12 months.
The company runs an Internet search engine designed to allow users to look for businesses in their neighborhoods,and to allow businesses to try and reach them by advertising at Local.com.
No. 8 Irvine-based Diedrich Coffee Inc. rode a caffeine high with a three-year revenue gain of 89%. Its sales have gone from $35.3 million for the 12 months through June 2007 to $66.7 million for the same period in 2009.
One of the main drivers of growth for Diedrich is a new type of single-serving coffee package found in offices and now available at big retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
Diedrich is one of a handful of companies licensed to make coffee for what are known as K-Cups, developed by Keurig Inc., part of Vermont-based coffee wholesaler Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.
No. 10 Anaheim-based Multi-Fineline Electronix Inc. cracked the top 10 with 72% revenue growth for the three years ended June 30 and recent 12-month sales of $778 million. The company, known as M-Flex, easily is the largest in the top 10.
M-Flex, a maker of flexible printed circuit boards for mobile devices, has been buoyed by continued demand for smart phones.
Drop Offs
A handful of companies dropped out of the top 10 or left the list.
Ambassadors International Inc., which ranked No. 4 last year and is moving from Newport Beach to Seattle, fell off the list after the cruise operator’s three-year growth slipped to 4.5%, below the cutoff for our list.
Aliso Viejo-based Smith Micro Software Inc., last year’s No. 5, now ranks No. 12 as the wireless software maker’s growth rate tempered to 58%, down from 556% at this time last year.
Avanir Pharmaceuticals of Aliso Viejo, last year’s No. 7, fell off the list with a 49% decline in revenue for the three years through June.
Newport Beach-based Acacia Research Corp., which has held the top spot on the list in years past, dropped from No. 9 last year to No. 25 with a 28% growth rate, off from 221% at this time a year ago.
Irvine medical device maker Masimo Corp., last year’s No. 10, now ranks No. 19 with 36.5% growth, a cooling from the 217% clip of a year ago.
