Orange County healthcare execs are gathering in Newport Beach next month to talk trends and technologies in aesthetic medicine and dermatology at a conference presented by Aliso Viejo-based booster group Octane.
The Aesthetics and Dermatology Conference will “hear from industry luminaries, review … aesthetic medicine technologies, receive company presentations from emerging high-growth companies and see panel discussions from [clinicians] in facial aesthetics, body shaping and augmentation, skin care and other technologies shaping the look of the future.”
Philippe Schaison, president of Ireland-based Allergan PLC’s Irvine-based Allergan Medical business unit, is the keynote speaker.
Panels address facial aesthetics, surgery and investing in aesthetic businesses.
Other speakers include John Gross and Tony Sine of Irvine-based “lifestyle medicine” company Alphaeon Corp.; plastic surgeon Brian Kinney; Dr. Lorrie Klein of OC Dermatology; Dr. Chris Zachary, professor and chair of the dermatology department at the University of California-Irvine; and Scott Whitcup, former head of research and development at Allergan.
Abbott Unit Debuts Device
Abbott Medical Optics, a Santa Ana-based unit of Chicago-based Abbott Laboratories, debuted its iDesign Advanced WaveScan Studio device late last month in the U.S. after receiving Food and Drug Administration approval.
Abbott Medical makes a range of eye-related medical devices and contact lens care solutions.
The company said in a news release that iDesign acts as the “brain” of laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis vision correction surgery, or LASIK, by generating high-definition scans of the eye that measure and map irregularities that can impact vision.
Abbott Medical said iDesign uses the same technology that’s helping to build NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope. It captures more than 1,200 micro readings of the eye and identifies the shape of the cornea, its curvature, how light passes through the eye and pupil diameter under different lighting.
IDesign uses the measurements to create “an accurate and personalized LASIK treatment plan based on the unique ‘blueprint’ of each person’s eye.”
The device, which has been approved overseas since 2012, “is a leap forward for laser vision correction in the United States,” said Leonard Borrmann, who heads Abbott Medical’s research and development.
Molecular Partners Gets $35M
Schlieren, Switzerland-based Molecular Partners AG said in late July that Allergan PLC has agreed to make accelerated milestone payments of $35 million.
The company, in its previous Irvine-based Allergan Inc. iteration, signed a pair of development deals with Molecular in 2012 for eye disease treatments. The deals called for Allergan, acquired this year by Ireland-based Actavis plc for $72.5 billion, to pay Molecular $62.5 million in combined upfront payments under the agreements.
The companies are working on developing biologic products for treating age-related macular degeneration, a major cause of blindness.
One of the products, Abicipar, is now in third-stage development.
Goldmann Takes NAHU Post
Don Goldmann, a vice president at Orange-based Word & Brown General Agency, is the new president of the National Association of Health Underwriters.
The Washington, D.C.-based association represents more than 100,000 health insurance agents and brokers.
Goldmann has been a member of the group since 1986. He has served on its financial committee on five different occasions and also as its secretary, when he oversaw the review of 34 association policies and procedures and drafted a major restructuring of the group’s policies and procedures dealing with the bidding of contracts and services.
“The members of [the association] are my professional family and to be selected by them is the greatest honor I’ve ever been given,” Goldmann said in a news release. “I am most grateful to be allowed to serve them and our cause of promoting private market solutions for the financing of healthcare in America.”
Orthopedic Clinic Opens
Orthopedic Prompt Care, an urgent-care facility, recently opened in Anaheim.
The clinic calls itself an alternative to emergency rooms. It treats injuries such as strains, sprains and fractures, as well as sports-related, muscle and tendon injuries. The facility also offers services such as concussion testing, sports physicals and stem cell injections.
It also has an open MRI scanner and an intravenous hydration therapy station. The clinic’s medical director is Dr. Frank Giacobetti, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon whose background includes a fellowship with the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic.
