The New Year is starting out on a busy foot for botulinum toxin medications, including Botox, the flagship product of Irvine-based Allergan Inc.
Allergan said at the start of January that it increased Botox’ price by 3%, the first hike since the recession.
“As is the case with many companies, Allergan continuously evaluates a variety of factors that impact our cost of doing business and the pricing of our products,” spokesperson Bonnie Jacobs said, adding those facts included labor and supply costs, along with research and development investments.
A hike was predicted by some on Wall Street: “Our pricing analysis suggests [Allergan] will take its first price increase since 2008, regardless of the outcome of the ongoing litigation with the federal government,” Vamil Divan, an analyst with Credit Suisse, wrote in a recent research note.
Allergan is the dominant player in the botulinum toxin market. Other entries include Canada-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, which offers the Dysport botulinum toxin through its Medicis division, and North Carolina-based Merz Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.’s Xeomin.
And it could get a bit more competition this year.
Revance Therapeutics Inc., which is based in the Bay Area community of Newark, filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 31 to raise $86.5 million in a public offering.
Revance is in a third-phase trial of its lead product, RT-001, which will eliminate crow’s feet lines around the eyes, something Botox received approval for last September.
RT-001 is a topical form of botulinum toxin type A, which differs from traditional injectable formulations of that drug.
Revance has already battled a potential competitor over the rights to RT-001, fighting Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp., which was based in Scottsdale, Ariz., and bought by Valeant in 2012.
Revance ended its license agreement with Medicis and reacquired the latter’s rights to RT-001 as part of a settlement, according to the San Francisco Business Times.
Under the settlement, Revance will be required to pay Medicis from specific cash raises, including part of its IPO.
It will also pay $4 million to Medicis if and when the Food and Drug Administration approves RT-001 and RT-002, an injectable drug under development.
Revance said RT-001, if developed and approved, could be used to control excessive sweating, migraine headaches and allergic rhinitis.
Botox is already approved for chronic migraine headaches.
Revance said in its filing that its founders and executive management team have held positions at various healthcare companies, including Allergan and Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc., which was based in Irvine and acquired by Bausch & Lomb Inc. in 2012 for $500 million. Valeant bought Bausch last year.
REIT Makes First Deal
Irvine-based Summit Healthcare REIT Inc. said last month that it has completed its first deal after changing its name.
Summit said in a news release that it bought a 40-unit assisted-living facility in Redding for $3.5 million.
The 26,000-square-foot facility was built in 1992. It’s leased to an affiliate of Eugene, Ore.-based Compass Senior Living LLC for a 10-year term.
Summit Healthcare REIT is publicly registered but not traded. It has focused on investing in senior housing properties throughout the U.S., and its portfolio includes interests in 12 long-term, triple-net-leased healthcare facilities.
It was known as Cornerstone Core Properties Inc. before changing its name in October “after a strategic repositioning of [its] portfolio into senior housing facilities.”
“With our focus 100% on healthcare, we believe it is the right time to change our company name to symbolize the start of this new chapter in our story,” said Kent Eikanas, Summit’s president and chief operating officer.
Firm Reopens Texas Hospital
Price Family Capital Partners LLC, an Anaheim investment firm, has bought the Colorado-Fayette Medical Center and 12 acres surrounding it in Weimar, Texas, for $500,000, according to a published report.
Price plans to reopen the hospital in the next four months as Weimar Medical Center, according to a report in the Colorado County Citizen newspaper.
The Colorado-Fayette Medical Center filed for bankruptcy in July 2012 and closed a month later, according to the Citizen.
The publication noted that Irving Sawyers, who will be president and chief operating officer of Weimar Medical Center, said the facility will be relicensed for the same number of beds.
“I am very excited about this project. I have 30 years in the hospital business and am more than enthused about having a hospital available for the community,” Sawyers said.
Bits and Pieces
Irvine-based Paragon Software Group said that Van Wert, Ohio-based nursing home operator Vancrest Health Care Centers is now using its Hard Disk Manager software for backup, recovery and disk management. … San Clemente-based Micro Imaging Technology Inc. said its MIT 1000 testing device can now identify staphylococcus bacteria.
