Allergan Plc in Irvine has moved forward this year on a strategy that targets men for aesthetics medicine work.
It wants to tap a market that has tripled since 1997 to about $1.4 billion on more than 1 million cosmetic procedures on men annually, according to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in Garden Grove.
Allergan this month begins “the first targeted male print campaign for Kybella,” said Senior Vice President of Medical Aesthetics David Moatazedi. Kybella is an Allergan drug used to treat double chin.
The company will place ads in Men’s Fitness, GQ, Esquire, on TV and online, and has had articles on its products this year by Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, and on business news website Quartz.
Allergan keeps an aesthetics medicine and eye care hub in Irvine. The company is based operationally in New Jersey and has administrative headquarters in Ireland.
Edwards Builds Supply Chain
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. in Irvine named Joseph Nuzzolese corporate vice president for its global supply chain, a new position at the heart valve maker.
A company spokesperson said in an email that growth in its “worldwide manufacturing network for heart valves and critical care” spurred the move, along with the need for “innovation in an increasingly complex global regulatory and quality environment.”
Nuzzolese comes to Edwards after six years with Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, N.J., where his duties covered global strategy and operations for surgical products, including cardiovascular ones. He has moved to Irvine.
Lab Space Scarce
Life sciences lab space is tight in Orange County, a JLL report shows.
Year-over-year annual lease rates for lab space were up 10% to $14.16 per square foot at the end of June, according to research by the firm’s Irvine office, which provides commercial leasing and investment services.
The county’s 403,000 square feet of lab space had a vacancy rate of 5.9%, down from 7.4% a year earlier. Numbers were unchanged for the quarter ended Sept. 30, said Senior Research Analyst Jared Dienstag.
“Demand is definitely outpacing supply in this field,” he said.
Lab space made up about 10.5% of the 3.8 million square feet in life sciences property inventory. JLL defines life sciences as being mainly medical device firms, biotechnology companies, and testing laboratories.
The report “speaks to investors, developers and the companies” and indicates what could be developed to meet the demand, as well as what a life science company might be looking for, Dienstag said.
The report indicates that two companies are in the market for large blocks of space that aren’t available here.
Such companies “require a high amount of space which might not be available, so they have to look at build-to-suit,” Dienstag said. “That’s not even including small or midsized firms.”
Hoag’s Got Heart
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach is the first OC hospital to offer Absorb, a newly approved dissolving heart stent used to treat coronary artery disease. It’s made of natural material and absorbs into the body over three years, which cuts the risk of future blockages.
Absorb is made by Abbott Laboratories in Illinois—which recently struck a deal to sell its Santa Ana-based eye-related Abbott Medical Optics to Johnson & Johnson for $4.3 billion.
Abbot plans to emphasize its heart-device business, which brings it back to OC. St. Jude Medical Inc.—which Abbott Labs is in the process of buying—employs about 500 at a facility in Irvine.
Irvine Investor Buys Miss. Hospice
Global Vision Holdings Inc. in Irvine said in a regulatory filing that it plans to buy North Delta Hospice and Palliative Services in Mississippi for about $7.7 million.
The investment firm is traded as a penny stock with a market cap of about $750,000. A news release on the deal said it plans two to four healthcare acquisitions a year.
North Delta Hospice serves about 1,500 patients and admits about 150 patients monthly, the filing said.
The purchase price includes $5 million for North Delta’s building, $2.35 million based on a 3.15 multiple on North Delta’s $746,251 in unadjusted EBITDA, and $300,000 for two additional hospice licenses.
“NDHP is the only in-patient care facility located in northern Mississippi,” the Global Vision statement said. It said the hospice owns its own medical equipment division and that the additional hospice licenses give “them a competitive edge.”
The transaction is expected to close in 90 days.
Glen Carnes is chief executive of Global Vision; Raymond Vallier is chief executive of North Delta Hospice.
Bits & Pieces
Children’s Hospital of Orange County will use NantHealth Inc.’s molecular testing in pediatric cancer work. Culver City-based NantHealth was launched by NantWorks, a company controlled by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong and backed by the Kuwait Sovereign Fund KIA, among others. … DeviceTalks West will take place Dec. 12 at Fairmont Newport Beach. The event is produced by the publisher of Boston-based trade publication MassDevice and includes workshops, panels and networking.
