OC’s top medical device makers continue to power a growing workforce in Orange County.
Overall, the county saw its medtech workforce grow nearly 5% to 22,932 workers last year, with significant gains from Axonics Modulation Technologies Inc. and consistent growth from Edwards Lifesciences Corp., according to this week’s Business Journal list, which ranks device makers by local employee count.
Though the market remains uncertain due to pandemic concerns and the potential of an approved COVID-19 vaccine, most companies appear to be recovering and returning to their roots in innovation.
$47B and Growing
Edwards (NYSE: EW) maintained the top spot with 5,319 local employees, up 11% compared to the same period a year ago.
The Irvine-based heart valve maker, with a $47 billion market cap as of last week, said it experienced a swift recovery in its second quarter and expects to maintain its top-line outlook at $4 billion to $4.5 billion in annual sales.
It’s continued local construction and purchased several buildings and development sites in the airport area of Irvine that has been reported to top $65 million over the last three years.
Likewise, investment in innovation continues; Edwards is expected to begin a pivotal trial for its EVOQUE system next month, according to clinicaltrials.gov.
The company’s transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) system has shown promise as a noninvasive treatment option for at-risk patients with mitral valve disease, according to early clinical data published in June.
Meanwhile, competitor Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT), which employs 1,644 workers at its neurovascular unit in Irvine, is preparing to start early feasibility studies for its TTVR system, called Intrepid, next month.
Top 10
Inari Medical Inc. is already among the top 10 highest-valued public companies in OC.
Following its well-received initial public offering in May, the Irvine-based firm (Nasdaq: NARI) that makes products for patients with blood clots and venous diseases has already surpassed a $3 billion market cap.
It’s generated an estimated150 jobs in Irvine, where it manufacturers its devices.
Inari’s founding team has experience with job creation in OC; Aliso Viejo-based Inceptus Medical LLC conceived Inari, as well as Sequent Medical and Aliso Viejo-based MicroVention.
MicroVention, owned by Japan’s Terumo Corp., maintains a growing base of about 1,200 area workers, good for the No. 6 spot.
Masimo Corp. of Irvine, which claimed the fifth highest value of an OC public company at press time with a $12 billion market cap, has about 700 workers in Irvine.
During the pandemic it has experienced rampant demand for its pulse oximetry devices, as well as a series of remote, tetherless devices that measure various vital signs, and plans to reach $1 billion in annual sales.
The device maker earlier this year warned investors it could see a potential decline in future demand due to overbuying; Needham in an analyst report this month expressed a similar concern for companies including Masimo that benefited in the earlier months of the pandemic.
Commercial Plans
Some device makers fared better in their commercialization efforts than others this year.
• Axonics (Nasdaq: AXNX) in Irvine boosted its local workforce 48% to 193 and its overall headcount 44% to 354 as it continues to market its sacral neuromodulation device for patients with bowel dysfunctions.
• Glaukos Corp. (Nasdaq: GKOS) in San Clemente said its June sales approached 80% of normal values, signaling a steady recovery in elective procedures. The maker of products and drugs to combat glaucoma, which is expected to move its global headquarters to a 160,000-square-foot project in Aliso Viejo next year, didn’t grow locally, though it increased its workforce 32% companywide with its purchase of Waltham, Mass.-based Avedro Inc.
• B. Braun Medical Inc. of Germany boosted its local workforce 14.6% to 2,200 workers in Irvine, with plans underway to expand its local footprint as part of a $1 billion effort to boost production of saline solutions.
• Nihon Kohden America Inc., with 277 local workers, up 33%, recently announced a “pop-up” system with 16 beds and bed monitors to assist hospitals in the event of a COVID-19 surge this fall.
