Tenet Names New Placentia Linda Chief; Animal Claims Tales
ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s recent annual shareholder meeting was more than just a proxy battle between Milan Panic, the Costa Mesa company’s controversial founder and chief executive, and insurgent investors.
Attendees at the meeting also got a taste (figuratively speaking, of course) of what’s coming through the drug maker’s pipeline.
ICN has increased its research and development spending in recent years,its first-quarter R & D; spending totaled $6.4 million, compared with $4 million in the prior-year period.
Dr. Johnson Lau, the firm’s senior vice president of research and development, said ICN’s medical-device unit is producing a laser wrinkle-reduction system. The company also has two new drugs in its pipeline: viramidine, an antiviral drug, and levovirin, a potential successor to its flagship ribavirin anti-hepatitis drug. Some pre-clinical testing has shown that levovirin has fewer drastic side effects such as birth defects.
Lau also talked at length about ribavirin, the company’s treatment for hepatitis C, a chronic liver disease. Lau noted that ribavirin royalties have grown from $37 million in 1998, after the Food and Drug Administration approved it, to $155 million last year.
Ribavirin is poised for further growth, according to Lau. He cited projections that hepatitis C cases will increase and studies showing the efficacy of ribavirin combined with a type of interferon. The European Union earlier this year approved the marketing of a new combination treatment for hepatitis C that involves a combination of ribavirin and interferon injection.
Ribavirin is the linchpin of ICN’s plan to break up into three separate companies. Ribavirin and related assets are expected to form the core of Ribapharm Inc., which is scheduled to have its public offering in the fall. Industry watchers believe that Ribapharm will be seen as a biotechnology company, making it more valuable than ICN, which is perceived as a traditional pharmaceutical maker.
New Placentia Linda Chief
Michael Hunn is the new chief executive of Placentia Linda Hospital in Placentia. Hunn takes over as the head of the Tenet Healthcare Corp. facility this week, succeeding Maxine Cooper, who now runs fellow Tenet property Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center.
Hunn’s background includes a stint as chief executive of Pacific Health Corp.’s 143-bed Anaheim General Hospital and its Buena Park campus and working for Louisville, Ky.-based Vencor Inc., now Kindred Healthcare Inc.
Hunn, who has degrees from Cardinal Glennon College and Kenrick Theological Seminary, both in St. Louis, began his career as an ordained Roman Catholic priest, serving as a parish priest and hospital ethics consultant.
Placentia Linda has 114 licensed beds. The hospital posted net operating income of $3.6 million on net patient revenue of $28.5 million in 1999, according to the Business Journal’s most recent hospital list.
Unusual Pet Claims
Veterinary Pet Insurance Inc., Brea, recently issued a top 10 list of unusual insurance claims for 2000. Veterinary Pet covers more than 6,400 medical treatments for pet accidents and illnesses.
Yorkshire terriers, the diminutive and adorable breed coveted by fashionistas around the world, figured in two of the claims. In one case, a Yorkie named Rex climbed into his owner’s refrigerator and ate half a ham before discovery. Rex’s pancreatitis and hypothermia were covered by a Veterinary Pet policy, the company said.
In another, Veterinary Pet covered a scratched cornea incurred by Enu, a Yorkie who was injured when his owner tried to pull on a work boot that the puppy was sleeping in.
Other claims included a Himalayan cat’s two broken paws after a catnap, an Alaskan malamute’s crashing through a window and a beagle’s broken jaw from chewing on a pipe.
Bits and Pieces:
I-Flow Corp., Lake Forest, said its InfuSystem subsidiary won a contract to provide infusion pump management services to Galaxy Health Network Inc., Arlington, Texas. Terms weren’t disclosed Sheldon Emmer, a partner at Emmer & Graeber, is giving an update on employee benefits during the June 14 meeting of the Orange County Employee Benefit Council at the Irvine Marriott. Hours are 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Cost is $30 for members and $35 for non-members at the door. For information: (714) 573-8605 HealthBridge Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital, Orange, said it was going to undergo its Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations inspections July 2 and 3 Kay McVay, a former staff nurse at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach, and UCI Medical Center, Orange, when it was Orange County General Hospital, recently was re-elected president of the California Nurses Association, Oakland.
