HEALTH CARE

Headquarters Move: Orange County, fast becoming a center for medical research, is home to yet another fledgling drug company.

Sonus Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is in the first stages of research on a drug to be used with ultrasound procedures, has moved its 13-person headquarters from a crowded office in Los Angeles to bigger digs in Costa Mesa.

The move was made possible by a $3-million infusion of cash by a group of venture capitalists, including Newport Beach-based Crosspoint Venture Partners.

Sonus spokesman Tom Gable said the move gives the small, 1-year-old firm more laboratory space to develop what it calls “proprietary ultrasound contrast agents for cardiology, radiology, gynecology and neuroradiology.”

What that means in English is that founder Dr. Steven C. Quay is working on a chemical that, when injected, will help doctors better see what they are looking at when they use ultrasound technology.

Ultrasound is used normally to view fetuses in pregnant women. But it can also be used in checking the heart, liver and other organs.