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NeoTherapeutics Solidifies Tie to UCI Research Team

UCI Med School Gets $9.3M to Study Tobacco Smokers

NeoTherapeutics Inc. of Irvine has formed a subsidiary called NeoGene Technologies Inc., which will work with UCI Medical Center’s research team to develop drugs that could eventually treat obesity, cardiovascular disease, stress-related health problems and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

NeoTherapeutics in September pledged $900,000 over three years to the team, headed by Dr. Olivier Civelli, professor of pharmacology at the College of Medicine. Through NeoGene Technologies, NeoTherapeutics plans to make an additional investment of $1.1 million.

The research is on neurotransmitters and their receptors in the brain, which can be used to develop disease treatments. In return, NeoTherapeutics gets the exclusive rights to the research findings for three years.

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Why do people take up smoking? UC Irvine’s College of Medicine and School of Social Ecology have received a $9.3 million award from the National Institutes of Health to try and get to the bottom of it.

UCI is one of seven institutes nationwide picked by NIH to participate in a study of tobacco addiction. The center will be called the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center and will examine the roles of age, gender, genes and environment in determining whether an individual will start smoking.

“The research conducted at this unique center should give us more insight into why these programs fail to keep people from smoking and how they can be more effective,” said Frances Leslie, professor of pharmacology in the College of Medicine, who is one of those leading the research.

Daniel Stokols, professor of urban and regional planning in the School of Social Ecology is also heading the center.

The four major projects to be conducted at UCI are: neurobiology of smoking behavior; development of a computer model to measure which anti-smoking programs may be most effective; tracking the moods and behavior of 100 high school and college students over four years to see what leads to smoking; and conducting Positron Emission Tomography (PET) brain scans to examine how nicotine affects the central nervous system.

The other six institutions involved in the study are: University of Southern California, Brown University, Georgetown University, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin and Yale University.

At the Nov. 19 annual medical industry gala, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation honored four members of the medical industry with the Mentor in Medicine Award. Honorees were: Bradford A. Bowlus, CEO and president of PacifiCare Health Plans, Kimberly Chavalas Cripe, CEO and president of Children’s Hospital of Orange County and Children’s Hospital at Mission, Donald Roden former president and CEO of Bergen Brunswig Corp. and Dr. Lawrence K. Wickham, co-director of neonatal services at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

Wickham was given the “Dr. Jonas Salk Mentor in Medicine Award,” which is presented to a physician who exemplifies Salk’s dedication to medicine and science. “To have your name mentioned in that kind of company is incredible. It was very humbling,” he said. Previous recipients include Gary Fybel of Mission Hospital, Kenneth Bell of Kaiser Permanente, Vicki Darrow and Thomas Garite of UCI Medical Center.

Some 400 people in the medical industry attended the dinner and awards ceremony, which raised $250,000 for the organization.

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Bits and pieces:

Atairgin Technologies Inc., Irvine, and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation received a patent for their technology for early detection of ovarian cancer Allergan Inc., Irvine, has entered into an agreement with 3M Pharmaceuticals to promote Allergan’s acne product Tazorac in the U.S. dermatology market Cogent Healthcare Inc., Laguna Hills, has acquired Applied Medical Solutions, a South Florida provider of inpatient physician management programs to members of United HealthCare through 34 hospitals. AMS will change its name to Cogent Healthcare Lake Forest-based I-Flow Corp.’s ON-Q anesthetic delivery system is a life sciences category finalist at the UC San Diego Most Innovative New Products Award competition. Award winners will be announced on Dec. 15.

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