Trimedyne Acquires Texas Firm and CEO

Struggling Trimedyne Inc., seeking to secure a bigger niche in the market for surgical lasers, said Monday that it has hired a new chief executive and acquired the Texas company that he headed.

The Irvine company aims to boost its bottom line by expanding into renting surgical lasers rather than just selling them.

Trimedyne hired industry veteran William J. Schubert as chief executive and vice chairman and acquired Mobile Surgical Technologies Inc. for about $750,000 in stock. Schubert founded Mobile, which rents lasers and other high-tech equipment to hospitals and physicians’ offices.

“The problem isn’t that doctors and surgeons don’t want Trimedyne’s products,” Schubert said. “The problem is they haven’t been able to afford them.”

Trimedyne’s premier laser, for example, carries a price tag of $125,000, too expensive for hospitals and doctors’ groups beset by shrinking budgets and declining managed care and Medicare payments, Schubert said.

Schubert succeeds Trimedyne founder Marvin P. Loeb, 74, who will remain chairman.

Schubert said he expects Trimedyne to turn a profit and double sales within 12 months.

The company has lost more than $18 million since 1996. In its fiscal third quarter, Trimedyne lost $997,000, or 9 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $1.1 million, or 10 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue for the three months ended June 30 rose 14% to $1.6 million.

As part of the emphasis on renting, Schubert said he plans to expand the company’s sales and marketing force. Trimedyne has 90 employees, including 85 in Orange County.

Trimedyne’s stock edged up 13 cents a share to $1.50 in Nasdaq trading, well off its 52-week high of $7.38 on March 8.