Shares of O.C.’s Biolase Soar After Device OKd
Shares of Biolase Technology Inc. soared 56% Monday after the San Clemente maker of dental lasers said it received FDA approval to market a device that uses a laser-powered water spray instead of the traditional electrical drill to repair dental cavities.
The stock, the fifth-biggest percentage gainer in U.S. markets, jumped $1.19 a share on the Nasdaq to close at $3.31. A total of 495,300 shares traded, more than six times the stock’s recent daily volume.
Donald A. La Point, the company’s chief executive, attributed the stock movement to prospects for Biolase’s water-spray device as a painless alternative to the drill.
“We are focused, we have the [regulatory] clearance, a patent, and we are moving forward,” he said.
Biolase said clinical trials comparing its Millennium device with conventional high-speed drills found that 98.5% of Millennium patients had no discomfort.
About a third of Americans suffer from moderate to high fear of dentistry, and some experts estimate more than half of the U.S. population puts off going to the dentist because of fear and anxiety.
La Point, who owns a 2.9% stake in the company, said he doesn’t know whether he’ll sell some of his 400,000 shares any time soon. The stock, which reached a 52-week low of $1.75 Thursday, is still below its yearly high of $4.75 on Dec. 2.
Only time will tell, however, whether sales of the device will bear out investors’ excitement over its approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
Although the Biolase device has advantages over conventional drills, the $40,000 to $45,000 price tag of the new system may leave many dentists open-mouthed.
Dentists, a financially conservative lot, have been slow to invest in lasers--which can cost several thousand dollars--when a standby drill can be had for $200 to $300, said Dr. Wayne Wozniak, an American Dental Assn. official involved in evaluating new technology.
Notably, stock of Irvine-based Premier Laser Systems Inc. soared last year when regulators approved its laser as the first for use directly on teeth. But the dental group was cautious in assessing Premier’s laser, supporting its use on small and medium-size cavities but saying the group needs more data before deciding if the laser is safe and effective on deeper cavities.
Premier was beset by a dispute with a big distributor and financial problems. Trading in its stock was suspended in May.
La Point said that unlike other lasers on the market, Biolase’s uses water that has been energized by a laser to prepare cavities, remove decay from around old fillings and roughen the enamel. Company studies of patients using the device show that nearly all report painless cavity removal, he said.
But Wozniak said that such lasers have limited usefulness because regulators haven’t approved them to perform all of the common functions of the drill. Regulators, for example, haven’t approved the devices for use on children.
La Point said his company aims to submit data to regulators in the hope of receiving approval for pediatric and other uses.
Reuters contributed to this story.
