Health Care Firms Will Merge to Create Infusion Therapy Giant

An Ontario, Calif.-based company that provides home infusion services will merge with two other companies to create one of the largest infusion concerns in the nation, the firms announced Wednesday.

The stock-swap deal--the latest example of rapid consolidation in the health care industry--would combine Curaflex Health Services Inc. of Ontario, HealthInfusion Inc. of Miami and Medisys Inc. of Minneapolis.

Based on the 12-month period ended in September, the companies had combined profit of about $10 million on revenue of about $185 million, but company executives expect 1994 revenue to reach about $240 million.

The new company, which does not yet have a name, would operate about 74 regional centers for infusion therapy--the intravenous delivery of drugs and nutritional products--as well as seven disease-specific outpatient facilities nationwide, dominating the market in Miami, Boston, Chicago, Phoenix, Dallas, St. Louis and Philadelphia, among other cities.

“Over the past several years, our three companies have been actively making acquisitions of local infusion therapy providers, incorporating more than 35 companies into our respective operations,” said HealthInfusion President and Chief Executive Miles Gilman.

The highly fragmented market for home infusion therapy is estimated to be worth about $3 billion in the United States.

Analysts estimate it is growing at about 20% a year, and that growth is expected to be maintained as health reform evolves because the reform would probably emphasize high-quality, low-cost care outside of the expensive hospital setting.

The leader among home infusion companies is Caremark International Inc.

Charles Laverty, chief executive of Curaflex, said the newly formed company will rank third based on annual sales.

In trading on the Nasdaq stock market, HealthInfusion rose $1.125 a share to close at $7.375; Curaflex was unchanged at $5.50 a share and Medisys fell $1.125 to $4.125.