Square-1 Engineering: A New Approach to Medical Device Consulting

The History of Southern California's 
Medical Device Ind​ustry

History 's lessons give us an opportunity to make improvements for the future, while giving us the chance to appreciate our forebears.  Our industry has a rich culture of ingenuity, entrepreneurship and collaboration - a story that needs to be told and remembered.  Join us for a spin down memory lane as we unfold how the medical device industry was started in southern California. 
[Do we need to make an update, add or edit?  If so email us at info@square1engineering.com]
Pre-1900's
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- 1885: USC opens its second professional school in Los Angeles, Ca and the regions 1st medical school via the Keck School of Medicine
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- 1896: The Pacific Sanitarium (today known as UCI School of Medicine) opens in Anaheim, Ca by A.C. Moore
1900 - 1914
No data to report
1915 - 1929
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- 1928: Philip Drinker, an American engineer in Boston, MA, creates the iron lung, a device that breathes for polio patients who can no longer breathe on their own. (sources credit Drinker as the 1st American to develop a medical device, though not from SoCal; additional data here)
1930's
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- 1931: Don Baxter Intravenous Products Corporation forms in Los Angeles, Ca by Drs. Ralph Falk and Don Baxter; by the close of the decade name is changed to Baxter Laboratories, Inc.
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- 1935: National Technical Laboratories (today known as Beckman Coulter) forms in Pasadena, Ca by Dr. Arnold Beckman
1940's
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- 1940: ​Allergan forms in Los Angeles, Ca by pharmacist Gavin S. Herbert
1950
American Hospital Supply acquires Baxter Laboratories, Inc. creating McGaw Laboratories
1958
​Coulter Corporation founded by Wallace H. Coulter and Joseph Coulter
1960
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- Miles Lowell Edwards, in partnership with Albert Starr, implant the 1st heart valve in patient 
​- Ormco Dental is founded by Frank Miller in Brea
- Allergan moves to Santa Ana, Ca
1961
Edwards Laboratories founded in Santa Ana, Ca by Miles Lowell Edwards
1964
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​- Donald Shiley leaves Edwards Lifesciences to form Shiley Laboratories in Santa Ana, Ca 
​- UCI Campus breaks ground in Irvine, Ca;
1965 & 1966
​- 1966: Edwards Laboratories is acquired by American Hospital Supply forming American Edwards​ Laboratories
1970 - 1975
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- 1970: Glidewell Dental Labs is formed by Jim Glidewell near Newport Beach, Ca 
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- 1972: Pacesetter Systems (PSI) is formed by Alfred E. Mann (his 1st of 15 device companies founded, PSI however not located in CA)
1976 - 1979
- 1976: Shiley Labs is acquired by Pfizer (in 1991 Pfizer would divest this business to Fiat Group)
1980 - 1985
- 1981: Newport Medical Instruments founded in Costa Mesa, Ca
- 1983: Minimed Technologies is formed in Northridge, Ca by Alfred E. Mann​
- 1985: 
Alfred Mann Foundation incubator is formed in Valencia, Ca
​- 1985: American Edwards is acquired by Baxter International
1987 & 1988
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- 1987: Applied Medical is formed in Orange County, Ca by Said & Nabil Hilal;
​- 1987: Advanced Sterilization Products forms
1989 - 1992
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- 1989: Masimo Corporation is formed in Orange County, Ca by Joe Kiani;
​- 1989: Alcon acquires CooperVision Surgical
- 1989: ResMed is formed by Peter Farrell in Australia,
- 1990: ResMed relocates to San Diego, Ca
​- 1992: Endologix is founded by Michael M. Hansen in Irvine, Ca
1993 - 1995
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- 1993: Biosense formed by brothers Shlomo & Amit Ben-Haim
- 1995: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moves it west coast headquarters from Los Angeles to Irvine, Ca;
​- 1995: Irvine Biomedical (IBI) formed by Peter Chen
1996
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- Micro Therapeutics (MTI) is formed in Irvine, Ca by George Wallace
- Biosense in Irwindale, Ca is acquired by Cordis, a su​bsidiary of Johnson & Johson creating Biosense Webster
- Cardiac Science re-starts in Irvine, Ca under Ray Cohen
1997 & 1998
- 1997: Microvention is formed in Tustin, Ca by Brian J. Cox & Bob Rosenbluth
- 1997: McGaw Labs is acquired by B Braun Melsungen AG
​- 1997: Beckman / Coulter merger is completed
- 1997: Nuvasive is formed in San Diego, Ca​ by James Marino & Jim McKinley
- 1997: HydraFacial is formed in Long Beach, Ca
- 1998: Illumina, Inc. is formed in San Diego, Ca by David Walt, Larry Brock, John Stuelpnagel, Anthony Czarnik and Mark Chee
- 1998: Glaukos is founded in Orange County, Ca
1999 & 2000
- 1999: Dexcom is founded in San Diego, Ca by Scott Glenn, John Burd, Lauren Otsuki, Ellen Preston and Bret Megargel
- 2000: Baxter spins out Edwards Lifesciences as a stand-alone company
​- 2000: Volcano Corporation founded in San Diego, Ca
- 2000: Cameron Health is founded in San Clemente, Ca by Gust Bardy
2001 & 2002
- 2001: Medtronic acquires Minimed Technologies
- 2002: Allergan spins out its ophthalmic surgical and contact lens business to form Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) as a stand alone company
2003 & 2004
- 2003: St. Jude Medical acquires Irvine Biomedical
- 2003: GenSci Regeneration Sciences (Seaspine today) is acquired by Switzerland based Isotis
​- 2004: Nuvasive IPO
2005 & 2006
- 2005: MTI acquired by eV3
- 2006: Terumo acquires Microvention;
​- 2006: Danaher acquires Sybron Dental
​- 2006: Fjord Ventures incubator is formed in Laguna Hills, Ca by Olav Bergheim
2007 - 2010
- 2007: Isotis is acquired by Integra Lifesciences
​- 2007: Ivantis is founded in Irvine, Ca 
- 2010: Covidien acquires eV3
2011 & 2012
- 2011: Danaher acquires Beckman Coulter
- 2011: Blockade Medical is founded in Irvine, Ca by Dave Ferrera and Marc Tilman
​- 2011: Novartis acquires Alcon
- 2011: Inari Medical is formed inside incubator Inceptus in Aliso Viejo, Ca 
​- 2012: Vessix Vascular of Laguna Hills, Ca is acquired by Boston Scientific
​- 2012: Boston Scientific acquires Cameron Health
​- 2012: Covidien acquires Newport Medical of Costa Mesa, Ca
2013 - 2015
- 2013: Valeant Pharmaceuticals buys Bausch & Lomb
- 2013: Axonics Modulation is formed in Irvine, Ca
- 2014: Medtronic acquires Covidien
- 2014: Volcano Corp in San Diego, Ca acquired by Philips
- 2014: Stryker acquires Surgicount (aka Patient Safety Technologies) of Irvine, Ca
- 2014: Danaher acquires Nobel Biocare
​- 2015: Actavis acquires Allergan
- 2015: Glaukos IPO
​- 2015: Integra Lifesciences spins out Seaspine
2016 & 2017
- 2016: Vyaire Medical is created via the acquisition of Becton Dickinson (BD) respiratory solutions business by Apax Partners
- 2016: French based Balt acquires Blockade Medical to form Balt Group in Irvine, Ca
- 2017: Johnson & Johnson (J&J) acquires AMO, creating J&J Vision
2018 & 2019
- 2018: Axonics IPO
​- 2019: Novartis spins out Alcon as a stand alone company (again)
- 2019: Danaher Corp spins out Ormco, Kavo Kerr and Nobel Biocare to form Envista Holdings Corp
2020 & 2021
- 2020: Inari Medical IPO
2022 & 2023
- 2022: Bausch ​& Lomb acquired AcuFocus out of Irvine, Ca
- 2022: Alcon completes acquisition of Ivantis
​- 2023: Seaspine merges into and under OrthoFix Medical
- 2023: Nuvasive is acquired by Globus Medical
GET HELP WITH YOUR MEDICAL DEVICE PROJECTS TODAY!
The quickest way to overcome a business challenge is to get help from those who are experienced in besting your beast!  The team at Square-1 Engineering is comprised of a variety of technical and project management professionals who are subject matter experts in the areas of NPD, Quality, Compliance and Manufacturing Engineering.  Learn more about how we can solve your work and project problems today to get you back on track!
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    • Medical Device Consulting >
      • Product Development Services
      • Medical Device Quality Engineering & Compliance Services
      • Validation Services
      • Manufacturing Services
      • Regulatory Services
    • Medical Device CAD Services
    • In-Source Project Services
  • Successful Execution
    • How We Engage
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    • Project Expertise
    • Case Studies
  • Resource Library
    • Southern California's Medical Device History
    • White Papers and Articles
    • Recommended Business Reading
    • The Business Wingmen Podcast
  • About Us
    • Vision & Misson
    • Careers >
      • Careers - Business Development Manager
      • Careers - R&D Engineer
      • Careers - Test Engineer
    • Contact Us