MemorialCare Medical Group strengthened its strongholds in Fountain Valley and Long Beach with new services geared toward women—including prenatal and gynecological care—at two locations.
The group is part of MemorialCare Health System, based in Fountain Valley, which runs five hospitals—Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Saddleback Memorial Center in Laguna Hills, and three facilities in Long Beach—two medical groups, a health plan and other care centers.
It employs 11,500 and works with about 2,600 physicians.
The new services are at Orange Coast Memorial and at the Douglas Park development in Long Beach—a 260-acre former Boeing Co. facility that Sares-Regis Group in Irvine is master-developing into a mix of commercial, office and residential—a good source of traffic for MemorialCare.
The two MemorialCare facilities have 19 health providers between them covering obstetrics, gynecology, nurse midwives, family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and primary care. Specialty care is scheduled to be added this year.
Medical group Chief Executive Mark Schafer said, “The new providers offer a full range of care, robotic assisted surgery, menopausal health and beyond—covering every stage of a woman’s life.”
Testing, Testing
OC’s medical test industry is making its mark—Ambry Genetics Corp. offers more than 400 genetics tests at its 65,000-square-foot lab in Aliso Viejo—and don’t say Cyrex Laboratories LLC in Santa Ana isn’t doing its part.
Cyrex recently released Array 22 for assessing small intestine bacterial overgrowth. The malady starts with symptoms such as indigestion, diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating—but eventually saps the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from the intestine. Malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies follow.
The company develops antibody assays for early detection and monitoring of autoimmune conditions and works with a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-licensed lab in Phoenix to conduct them.
Labs performing tests on human samples, such as blood, body fluid and tissue for diagnosis, prevention or treatment of disease, are subject to CLIA compliance.
Each state also chips in its own biosafety laws and regulations.
Array 22 uses serum, a protein-rich liquid that separates from coagulated blood, to test for the bacterial abnormality in patients who have symptoms of malabsorption—weight loss, fatty stools or anemia—as well as other conditions, such as fatigue, obesity and skin disorders, a Cyrex press release said.
Cyrex has developed 15 tests, which include those for gluten, wheat and other food immunity reactivity, as well as neurological autoimmune issues and blood brain barrier permeability.
Tough Choice
Cryoport Inc. lost $9.8 million last year—half of the $19.6 million that it dropped two years ago—but it still meant the Irvine-based cryogenic transport service for biopharmaceutical materials needed cash.
The company on Feb. 27, issued 5.5 million shares at $2 apiece—47% below its $3.75 closing price the day before.
The offering “came at a deeper discount than I’d have liked,” said Chief Executive Jerry Shelton.
Cryoport after expenses came away with $9.9 million—and shares traded recently at about $2.40, for a market cap of $46 million.
Shelton said Cryoport has a bit of a struggle telling its story as a “unique company” in an area that involves newer technologies.
“There were no comps for investors to look at, and we had no independent analyst report” prior to its offering.
Shelton said the offering led to new coverage by two independent analysts and that institutional investors bought some of the new shares.
Cryoport reported $5.9 million in revenue last year, up 50% year-over-year. It expects to be cash flow positive by next year.
Product Nods
Two medical device makers in Anaheim—CleanCut Technologies LLC and ClearFlow Inc.—earned kudos for their work.
A panel of operation room nurses and technicians praised CleanCut’s catheter and guidewire packaging at a device packaging conference in Denver. The Dual Hoop Catheter DISK dispenser added a second clipless dispenser to the backer card allowing various-sized catheter wires to be packaged together.
ClearFlow’s PleuraFlow Act System, a fluid drainage system meant to prevent chest tube clogging and retained blood syndrome, nabbed a global product innovation award from consultants Frost & Sullivan in San Antonio.
Bits & Pieces
HCP Inc. in Irvine completed a previously announced sale of 64 senior living properties to Blackstone Group LP in New York. The facilities are leased to Brookdale Senior Living Inc. in Brentwood, Tenn. … Masimo Corp. in Irvine said Massena Memorial Hospital in Massena, N.Y., has begun using a wireless patient monitoring and data automation technology that combines the device maker’s Root system with a wearable pulse co-oximeter.
