Alphaeon Corp., which told the Business Journal in May that it’s now a neurotoxin research and development company, isn’t done with restructuring. The Irvine-based company, started in 2013 as a “lifestyle medicine” company that provided products and services not covered by health insurance, is transferring ShoutMD back to Newport Beach-based Strathspey Crown Holdings, now SCH-AEON LLC.
Strathspey announced in April that due to “a new alignment of its asset portfolio” it was renamed “to signify its core focus upon its majority ownership”—76% equity ownership—in subsidiary Alphaeon.
“ShoutMD was originally co-created by the physician investors of Strathspey Crown Holdings. [It] was intended to provide a free voice to the doctors, many of whom feel stifled by overregulation and various reimbursement pressures,” said Strathspey Chairman Robert Grant.
The social media network is for doctors, who review and rate products they use in their practices. Terms of the acquisition were undisclosed.
Alphaeon will keep its credit platform, which offers financing services for bariatric surgery, dentistry, dermatology, ophthalmology and plastic surgery.
SCH-AEON, in addition to Alphaeon, holds equity interests in other healthcare, social media and clean-energy related companies, including Nanobiosym Diagnostics Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., which this year received Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for its gene-radar Zika virus test.
UCI Med Eyes Change
The University of California-Irvine appointed Dr. Baruch Kuppermann chairman of the ophthalmology department of its medical school and director of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, which were vacated when Dr. Roger Steinert, 66, died in June.
Kuppermann specializes in the retina, a layer at the back of the eye that perceives light and is critical to helping the brain form visual images. He most recently served as vice chairman of clinical research, vice chairman of academic affairs and is a professor in the ophthalmology and biomedical engineering departments.
Kuppermann’s research focuses on the effect of drugs on the mitochondrial genetics of patients with retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. Mitochondria are known as the cell’s powerhouses, breaking down nutrients to create energy in a process known as cellular respiration. The regulation of the process is essential for cell health and survival. Malfunction in regulating mitochondrial dynamics can cause many neurodegenerative, and possibly retinal, diseases.
Kuppermann co-founded Retina World Congress, whose goal is to generate consensus about retinal disease, emerging technologies and treatments, clinical research and best practices.
He also launched UCI’s international and national retina fellowship programs to train U.S. and international doctors.
Kuppermann received a doctorate in neuroscience from California Institute of Technology and a medical degree from the University of Miami. He joined UCI in 1992.
UCI Health has two hospitals, one at its main campus in Irvine and a 417-bed acute care hospital in Orange.
Dry-Eye Move
Allergan PLC this month transferred the patent rights to dry-eye drug Restasis to St. Regis Mohawk Indian Nation for $13.75 million and up to $15 million in annual royalties. Allergan retains exclusive licenses to the six patents covering the eye drugs.
The move is intended to help Allergan fight off patent challenges from generic drugmakers Mylan N.V. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. trying to force the drug off patents before the appointed time in 2024. The New York tribe could protect those patents because tribal sovereign immunity shields the tribe from certain types of lawsuits in the U.S.
Restasis generated over $1.4 billion in global revenue last year, second to Botox, which generated nearly $2 billion.
The move caused more than a little teeth- gnashing in more than a few sectors: drug companies, lawyers, experts and defenders of the intellectual-property system.
Mylan calls the deal “a transparent, last-minute attempt to shield the [patents] from inevitable cancellation,” and others have criticized Allergan of price gouging.
Allergan, however, deems its maneuver a proper legal response to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that it says has made it too easy for competitors to attack patents.
“Attacks on pharmaceutical patents via [inter-partes review] may make millions of dollars for hedge funds and generic drug manufacturers, but [will] disincentivise biopharma R&D,” an Allergan spokesperson said via email.
The PTAB was created by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office in 2011 to allow parties to challenge whether a patent was properly issued by the patent office—through an IPR.
Testing … Testing
Aliso Viejo-based genetics-testing lab Ambry Genetics will be partnering with the center for personalized medicine of NorthShore University in Evanston, Ill., to offer genetic testing. The university’s health system includes four hospitals and a 900-doctor multispecialty group practice. It also has its own research institute and a home and hospice services arm.
The collaboration is meant to further NorthShore’s genomic heath initiative, which seeks to advance precision medicine in preventive care. Ambry will perform genetic sequencing on 10,000 enrolled patients.
Japanese photocopier and printer maker Konica Minolta announced in July that it will buy Ambry for $800 million upon closure and an additional payment of up to $200 million over the next two years if certain financial goals are met. The deal is projected to close by year-end.
