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Allergan Says Hair-Loss Drug Analysis Coming in Q1

Irvine-based drug maker Allergan Inc. is moving along with the development of an active ingredient in two of its drugs for hair loss.

Allergan is doing two second-phase clinical trials comparing bimatoprost to minoxidil, Scott Whitcup, the drug maker’s chief scientific officer, said in a recent conference call with analysts.

The active ingredient in eyelash-grower Latisse and Allergan’s Lumigan glaucoma drug is bimatoprost.

Minoxidil is the active ingredient in New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson’s Rogaine hair growth drug.

Chief Executive David Pyott said in a recent interview that those trials are examining “how well has bimatoprost functioned relative to Rogaine.”

Whitcup said Allergan expects to “finish all of our analyses of the data as they come in by sort of early next year.” The company then would submit the data to a major medical meeting for a presentation.

Allergan could have a big success on its hands if bimatoprost is developed and approved for hair loss. There is an estimated $1 billion-plus annual market for hair-loss drugs and hair transplants.

The development of bimatoprost for scalp-hair loss is another example of how Allergan and other drug companies often discover alternative usages that occur as side effects during clinical trials.

That was the case with Latisse, which came about after researchers found that Lumigan stimulated eyelash growth.

Allergan is testing bimatoprost for hair loss in men and women. Pyott said dermatologists he has talked with who specialize in hair loss are mentioning that “female pattern baldness is a huge deal as well,” although baldness concerns have historically been a male preserve.

Cancer Research

Researchers from the University of California, Irvine’s Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Health Promotion Institute at California State University, Fullerton, are working together to reduce cancer disparities in Orange County.

The two institutions are getting $1.3 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute.

UC Irvine and CSU Fullerton want to “establish a collaborative partnership that will increase research at both institutions on cancer health disparities,” F. Allan Hubbell, a UCI professor emeritus of medicine, public health and nursing science and project co-leader, said in a release.

Sora Park Tanjasiri, a Cal State Fullerton professor of health science and director of the Health Promotion Institute, is working with Hubbell as co-leader.

The alliance will conduct pilot research projects that will lead to submission of proposals to the National Cancer Institute and other funding agencies.

CalOptima Chief Executive

CalOptima—an Orange-based agency that administers publicly funded health insurance programs in OC—named Michael Schrader as chief executive.

Schrader will start his job at the beginning of 2013.

Richard Chambers, CalOptima’s previous chief executive, left in April to take a job as president of Molina Healthcare of California in Long Beach.

Schrader’s background includes being chief operating officer of Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan and 15 years with CenCal Health, a county-organized health system based in Santa Barbara.

CalOptima said that more than 760 people were screened by an external recruiting firm for the job and that it personally interviewed Schrader and 12 others.

CalOptima serves 418,000 county residents—including the disabled, low-income families and seniors—with a network of more than 5,800 primary care and specialist doctors and 24 hospitals.

Bankruptcy Filing

Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Inc., a drug developer that moved from Laguna Niguel to Cambridge, Mass., last year, has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization.

Inspiration is developing treatments for hemophilia. Its partner, French drug maker Ipsen SA, said that it and Inspiration are seeking to have approval from the court on bidding and auction for the commercial rights to its two drugs in development, as well as an Ipsen-owned industrial facility in Milford, Mass.

Those drugs are IB1001 for people with congenital hemophilia B and OBI-1 for patients who are resistant to traditional treatments for hemophilia A.

Inspiration also said that it is looking for $18.3 million worth of debtor-in-possession financing from Ipsen, which would allow the parties to jointly sell the hemophilia assets.

Bits and Pieces

St. Joseph Hospital-Orange opened its Center for Heart and Vascular Wellness and Prevention. An event connected with the center’s opening featured NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, who had coronary bypass surgery over a decade ago at St. Joseph-Orange after testing revealed that he had atherosclerosis and was at high risk for a heart attack.

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