St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton has a chief medical officer for the first time in several years.
The hospital named Eugene Kim to lead a team of about 700 physicians. Kim was previously associate medical director of the inpatient specialty program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
St. Jude is part of St. Joseph Hoag Health in Irvine, a network of seven hospitals—the others are Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach and Irvine; Hoag Orthopedic Institute; Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach; and St. Joseph Hospital Orange.
A St. Jude spokesperson said “the complexity of the current healthcare environment” led to the move, which was part of other leadership changes in the system, including new chief executives for St. Jude, St. Joseph-Orange and both campuses of Mission Hospital.
As part of the executive changes, Lee Penrose, formerly chief executive at St. Jude, became chief operating officer for acute care delivery of St. Joseph Hoag Health overall, and Brian Helleland, formerly St. Jude COO, moved up to CEO.
Helleland said Kim’s background as a physician and administrator makes him “uniquely qualified for this position.”
More Leadership Moves
Another recent move had an OC executive take the top slot at a northern California company.
Asterias Biotherapeutics Inc. in Fremont named Newport Beach-based healthcare executive Michael Mulroy president and chief executive, effective June 26. Mulroy replaces Steve Cartt, who holds both roles and steps down on June 25, while retaining his board seat.
Asterias develops regenerative medicine in neurology and oncology. It traded recently at a $148 million market cap.
Mulroy worked with Cartt, Asterias Chairman Don Bailey and its CFO Ryan Chavez at Anaheim-based Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. before its $5.6 billion sale in 2014 to Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals PLC in Dublin, Ireland. Mallinckrodt bought regenerative medicine company Stratatech Corp. in Madison, Wisc., last year.
Mulroy said his focus at Asterias is raising money.
His background includes investment banking and finance. He recently served as a senior adviser to CamberView Partners LLC in San Francisco, which connects investors and public companies and consults on their interaction.
Mulroy is on the board of clinical-stage biotech BioTime Inc. in Alameda and runs Mulroy Advisors LLC in Newport Beach, his LinkedIn profile said.
Chapman Cybersecurity Confab
Chapman University in Orange hosted a discussion on May 22 on “Cybersecurity in Medical Devices” at its Schmid College of Science and Technology.
The event ended up being timely, with recent global ransomware attacks whose targets included medical facilities in the U.S. and U.K.
Daniel Beard, vice president of technology at Promenade Software Inc. in Irvine, urged device makers to “get serious” on cybersecurity.
Beard said that as medical devices become connected to networks, mobile platforms and the cloud, cybersecurity—and vulnerability—become paramount.
“No known malicious attacks on medical devices” have caused human harm, he said, “But nothing is really secure.”
The Food and Drug Administration issued new guidance late last year advising device manufacturers “to address cybersecurity throughout the product lifecycle” and “monitor, identify and address cybersecurity vulnerabilities and exploits as part of their postmarket management of medical devices.”
Beard said that doesn’t require specific actions “to do it the FDA’s way, [but] if you haven’t made cybersecurity a part of your process, they can surely hold up approval of your product.”
Beard directs MedISAO, a new effort Promenade launched this year to improve cybersecurity of medical devices.
China Billionaire Buys
ChromaDex Corp. in Irvine said the second of three planned investments by Hong Kong investor Li Kai-Shing brings his commitment to $19.9 million of a planned $25 million.
We detailed Li’s investment in the nutritional ingredients maker in this space last month.
Forbes in February named Li the wealthiest person in Asia, with an estimated net worth of $31.3 billion.
ChromaDex’ portfolio of patented ingredients includes Niagen nicotinamide riboside, which is said to have antiaging benefits. It traded recently at a $131 million market cap.
Bits & Pieces
Aerie Pharmaceuticals in Irvine reported positive results from a third-phase clinical trial of Roclatan, an eye drop designed to lower intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients. Aerie expects to file for FDA approval early next year. … Aliso Viejo-based Focal Therapeutics’ BioZorb marker, an implantable device used to mark the site of surgical tissue removal, was shown to help reduce radiation volume in patients with breast cancer, according to a study at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. The device received FDA approval in 2013. … Nonprofit Global Genes in Aliso Viejo will host its first RARE Partnering and Investor Forum in September at Hotel Irvine at the same time as the group’s annual RARE Patient Advocacy Summit, to boost research and development in rare diseases.
