Masimo Corp. in Irvine has begun work on “a prototype that can be manufactured and sold” to detect and help destroy cancer cells using nanoparticles, lasers and gold, said Chief Executive Joe Kiani.
Nanoparticles are submicroscopic bits of matter that act as single units; 10 million of them equal 1 centimeter.
The prototype is based on work done by researchers at Rice University and reported earlier this year. The researchers have since joined Masimo and moved to Irvine.
Masimo is known mainly for patient monitoring, so how does this work fit with that profile?
“It does and it doesn’t,” Kiani said. “To monitor is ‘to look at something over time,’ and what we’re looking at here is whether there’s a product that can monitor the effective removal of cancer cells.”
He said the new area for Masimo comes in the detection and destruction of the cells.
The research indicated that nanoparticles coated with gold might be able to locate and mark cancerous cells. A surgeon could then find the cells and destroy them with a laser. The work would be done in conjunction with surgery to remove larger cancerous masses to try to ensure that surrounding cells containing trace amounts of cancer could be removed.
“Gold has a property the cancer cells wanted,” Kiani said of the research. “It was unique. The cancer cells liked to gobble up” the nanoparticles.
Masimo funded some of the early research—which also has shown potential for combating malaria—then hired the researchers in January. Prototype work has begun; the next step is a scalable sample.
“We’re imagining a surgical tool or system for cancer surgeons,” Kiani said. “We’re at least three years away for the malaria and five years away for cancer.”
Firm in Covered California
California Dental Network in Laguna Hills plans to join Covered California next year, with enrollment beginning Nov. 1.
It provides dental insurance to 14,147 in Orange County and 70,000 in California.
Covered California is the state entity that oversees access to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. It had about 1.4 million members as of July.
California Dental Network Chief Executive Brian Watts said entry into the state system fits the firm’s focus.
Covered California has a similar small-group profile to California Dental, whose members are individuals, families, and small companies or organizations, such as entrepreneurs, trade associations, municipal employees, nonprofit groups and unions.
“One of our strengths is marketing to individuals,” Watts said. “It’s a low-cost, high-quality, simple program.”
California Dental also has a good reputation with state officials, he said, because founder Steve Casey Sr. worked for the state prior to creating the company in 1998.
Casey sold California Dental in 2014 to DentaQuest in Boston, which provides dental insurance to about 24.5 million people in 30 states.
Watts said the DentaQuest relationship brought access to large health plans with operations in California. California Dental contracts commonly come as the add-on dental insurer to a company’s health insurance offering to employees.
Industry Accolades
Three of the five honorees at last month’s Business Journal Innovator of the Year awards are in the healthcare industry:
• Aaron Elliott, chief executive of genetic tester Ambry Genetics in Aliso Viejo.
• Mitchell Brin, chief scientific officer for Botox at Allergan Plc’s Irvine office.
• Annette Walker, division president of Providence St. Joseph Health, also in Irvine.
Two other honorees hailed from the tech industry (see complete coverage, which begins on page 1).
Bits & Pieces
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. in Irvine got its CE Mark for expanded use of the Sapien 3 transcatheter heart valve. The device can now be used in countries that accept the CE Mark—most are in Europe and Asia—for patients with “severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis who are at intermediate risk for open-heart surgery.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August approved the valve for the same indication. … Friends of Family Health Center in La Habra, Hurtt Family Health Clinic in Tustin, Serve the People Inc. in Santa Ana, Share Our Selves Corp. in Costa Mesa, St. Jude Neighborhood Health Centers in Fullerton, University of California-Irvine, and Vietnamese Community of Orange County in Santa Ana are among 168 federally qualified health centers in California to receive grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for information technology improvements. … OptumRx plans to add 120 customer service jobs at its Costa Mesa facility to serve the firm’s pharmacy benefits members. Optum is part of UnitedHealth Group in Minnesota.
— Vita Reed contributed to this column
