UCI Engineering Prof Developing Devices to Aid Neural Recovery
Being a big fish in a small pond suits Allergan Inc. just fine, says President and CEO David Pyott.
The Irvine-based purveyor of eye-care pharmaceuticals, ophthalmic surgical devices and contact-lens-care products is celebrating its 50th anniversary and enjoying an increase in profits.
Last week, the company reported a 29% year-to-year rise in fourth-quarter earnings to $53 million, on sales that were up 10% to $380.3 million. Allergan’s stock was trading around 55 last week, near the top of its 52-week range.
But even as pharmaceutical giants Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham merge (creating the biggest pharmaceutical company in the world) and others appear on the verge of merging, Pyott does not believe Allergan is a target for acquisition.
“The reason I don’t feel particular concern about the consolidation is that they’re often merging for reasons of weakness,” he said. “Obviously if you have sales slowing then you have earnings slowing. So when the big guys get together, they can give their earnings a shot in the arm.”
“Small is beautiful,” he said. “If you’re small and focused, you can serve your customers’ needs much better than the big guys.”
Pyott said the important thing for his company is being large in a relevant market. In terms of worldwide sales in Allergan’s product niche, the company is No. 2, behind Alcon. But Allergan has the largest worldwide sales force, and it’s only a matter of three to four years before Allergan becomes No. 1, Pyott said.
Allergan expects to introduce three new products within the next couple of years: Alocril, an FDA-approved eye allergy medication expected to be launched in the first quarter; SENSAR, a folding acrylic lens implant, is awaiting FDA approval; and a drug to treat glaucoma (whose name won’t be released by the company until later) is expected to have a launch date of 2001.
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UCI’s School of Engineering is conducting research that may someday benefit those partially paralyzed by brain injury or stroke. David Reinkensmeyer, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has developed robotic devices that attach to patients’ limbs, which relay information to a computer and allows researchers to study factors that limit movement. The information will help researchers determine how mechanical manipulation may be used to aid neural recovery.
Another project, which is funded by Microsoft Corp., can be used as physical therapy at home. Reinkensmeyer has developed a game, accessible on the Internet, called “Java Therapy,” to help improve hand-eye coordination. Patients use a special force-feedback joystick to guide a bouncing ball into a square on a computer monitor.
“The ultimate goal is to provide cost-efficient devices that patients can use to facilitate and monitor their neural recovery from home,” Reinkensmeyer said.
Brea Community Hospital, a 162-bed acute-care hospital owned by Doctors Community Healthcare Corp. of Scottsdale, Ariz., will hold monthly advisory board meetings starting next month. The board will be composed of community members from law enforcement, schools, churches, businesses and healthcare facilities. The purpose of the meetings is to help the hospital identify ways to work with the community on health and social issues.
The meetings will begin at 9 a.m. and last for an hour. The hospital will provide breakfast (organizers suggest you get there at 8:45). The first meeting will be on Feb. 13. Call Tina Chiu at (714) 529-0211, Ext. 756 for more information.
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Bits and pieces:
Beech Street Corp., a PPO based in Irvine has acquired MediChoice, a Randolph, N.J.-based PPO that serves New York and New Jersey markets. The transaction will increase Beech Street’s network in the northeastern region to some 250 hospitals and 50,000 providers serving more than 1 million members I-Flow Corp. has acquired Spinal Specialties Inc., a San Antonio, Texas, company that manufactures custom spinal, epidural and nerve-block infusion kits. The company was purchased for $1.5 million, which consisted of $750,000 in cash and 200,000 shares of I-Flow common stock Micro Therapeutics Inc. got FDA approval to market two Rebar Micro Catheters, one for neuro applications and the other for vascular cases … Quality Systems Inc. of Tustin introduced a new product called the Internet Access Package at the American Association of Dental Group Practice’s annual conference in San Antonio. The product provides healthcare providers with their own Internet domain name, a web site designed and hosted by Quality Systems and an FTP server.
