On-site and near-site care play a role in the value-based conversation as employers, health plans and providers search for ways to reduce healthcare costs. More companies are offering on-site clinics with more comprehensive primary care services—approxi-
mately 45% of all employers offer some sort of on-site clinic, according to the National Association of Worksite Health Centers.
Aliso Viejo-based Onsite Dental LLC, which brings comprehensive dental services to companies and universities, is well-positioned to grow in the face of the trend. It received $20 million from Norwest Venture Partners in Palo Alto that will be used to support expansion.
Norwest is a global venture firm managing more than $6 billion in capital; its venture arm provides seed- to late-stage investments in the U.S., India and Israel.
Onsite Dental was founded in 1997. It provides services to a wide range of industries, with clients that include Albertsons, American Express, LinkedIn and PayPal, according to its website. Options include fixed-site practices, where clients provide the space and OnSite Dental provides the equipment, as well as full-time and part-time mobile and pop-up models.
Nearly 40% of Americans don’t regularly visit a dentist, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Studies show an annual dentist visit can help reduce treatment costs for a variety of diseases, such as diabetes—research shows that treating gum disease can help improve blood sugar control in patients with diabetes, for instance.
Swiss Deal
Full speed ahead for Tustin-based Avid Bioservices Inc., which will provide drug-manufacturing services to Enzyvant GmbH in Basel, Switzerland. Enzyvant, whose U.S. operation is based in Cambridge, Mass., is a subsidiary of Roivant Sciences Ltd.
Avid will manufacture RVT-801, Enzyvant’s investigational drug for the treatment of Farber disease. The drug received the Food and Drug Administration’s rare pediatric disease designation in September and will soon enter a clinical trial.
Avid completed the final piece of its transition from drug developer to contract development and manufacturing services provider last month. It sold its clinical-stage immunotherapy cancer drug candidate to Oncologie Inc. in Boston. Oncologie is responsible for all future research, development, commercialization and intellectual property cost of the candidate.
Avid operated for more than 20 years as a drug developer under the name Peregrine Pharmaceuticals and funded research and development with cash-generating biologics manufacturing subsidiary Avid. It changed its name to Avid in January and is now trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol CDMO.
The restructuring also included management and board changes. Chief Executive Roger Lias joined the company in September as president. He now leads the company following the resignation of former Chief Executive Steve King in December.
Bits & Pieces
Santa Ana-based Chapman Global Medical Center, a KPC Healthcare hospital, added Vitas Healthcare to its location offering hospice inpatient beds. The two private inpatient hospice suites are in the hospital’s medical surgical unit. Family and friends can be with the patient 24 hours a day. The Miami-based end-of-life care provider operates 45 hospice programs in 14 states, including New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas and Texas. … Allergan PLC agreed to settle a Botox antitrust case for $13.45 million. It maintained the price of Botox through a deal with a potential competitor; in September 2013 Allergan paid more than $300 million for worldwide exclusive rights outside Korea to commercialize Korean company Medy Tox Inc.’s cheaper neurotoxin products, allowing Allergan to entrench its market share without any check on pricing, according to a complaint filed in 2015. … StudyKIK, a clinical trial patient recruitment company in Costa Mesa, added Stace Baal as chief technology officer, responsible for developing applications for patient enrollment and retention. Low patient recruitment and retention in clinical trials remains a challenge in clinical research, impacted by factors such as lack of awareness of clinical trials and complexity of study protocol. … Seaside Health Plan, part of MemorialCare Health System, named Maribel Ferrer chief executive. Ferrer, formerly chief operating officer, replaced former Wendy Dorchester, who retired in December.
