OC, L.A. Rank Seventh in Biotechnology Companies
UCI Researcher Pursues Earwax Gene Link to Cancer; PacifiCare Inks Handheld Deal
HEALTHCARE by Vita Reed
Orange County and Los Angeles rank a combined seventh nationally in number of public and private biotechnology companies, according to a recent report by Ernst & Young International.
San Diego, Southern California’s biotech hub, ranked fourth in the report, which was billed as “the industry’s first global biotechnology report” and was released during BIO 2002, a conference held earlier this month in Toronto.
The report found 44 publicly traded biotech companies in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. San Diego had nearly 70% of the companies. The report found 141 privately held biotech companies in the region.
The region’s public companies posted $1.1 billion net profit on a 6% increase in revenue in 2001. The companies lost 4% in market value.
“Biotech has been a vibrant industry in the last couple of years,” said Rich Mejia, head of Ernst & Young’s Pacific Southwest health science practice. “Even though the (financial) numbers are down, biotech stocks have outperformed other sectors. And the venture capital money is going there,two-thirds is going to health sciences and services.”
An increased number of biotech products in third-stage clinical trials could lead to “revenue increases and liquidity events such as IPOs in 2003 and 2004,” Mejia said.
A big industry development: the largest merger in biotech history last year, when Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. bought Seattle-based Immunex Corp. for $16 billion.
New England grabbed the top spot on the list followed by the Bay area. The Mid-Atlantic region was third. Including San Diego, Southern California is the third-largest market in the nation, according to the report.
Publicly traded biotech companies employ 33,500 workers in Southern California, with about 26,000 in OC and Los Angeles, a 4% increase from 2000. San Diego saw a 6% decline in biotech workers last year.
Ear for Gene Research
Researchers from University of California, Irvine, and three Japanese universities have discovered a gene linked to a rare movement disorder that controls earwax production.
Researchers say that their findings, which were published in the June 8 issue of the scientific journal Lancet, show how rare disorders can uncover the body’s genetic relationships and could lead to ways of preventing cancer and excessive body odor.
Dr. Hiraoki Tomita, a postdoctoral fellow at UCI’s department of psychiatry, and fellow researchers found that the earwax gene is found in the same area as a gene that causes paroxysmal kinesigenic choreoathetosis, a movement disorder. That suggests a relationship between the two.
Tomita said that an Asian woman in the study had the “wet” form of earwax, which is uncommon in Asians. Earwax comes in two forms: “wet,” most common in African Americans and Caucasians, and “dry,” which is common among Asians and Native Americans.
Apocrine glands, which are found in the armpits and breasts, secrete earwax,previous research has suggested a relationship between wet earwax and higher breast cancer rates. Apocrine glands also produce sweat in the armpit and contribute to body odor.
PacifiCare Nabs New Clients
Rx-Connect, a division of Santa Ana-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., licensed its wireless prescription device to four more Southern California medical groups: Edinger Medical Group in Fountain Valley, Memorial Family Medicine in Long Beach, Graybill Medical Group in Escondido and PrimeCare in Ontario.
Rx-Connect’s handheld device allows doctors to write a prescription, verify whether it is covered on a health plan’s formulary and print the prescription on a printer. The device contains 32 formularies, so it can be used for patients who don’t receive health services from PacifiCare.
Rx-Connect and Prescription Solutions, PacifiCare’s pharmacy and medical management unit, piloted the wireless prescription system last year with Irvine-based Gateway Medical Group Inc.
According to Rx-Connect, only three of more than 3,000 prescriptions written by Gateway Medical doctors through the system have required pharmacy call-backs, and the calls were not related to errors, legibility or formulary compliance.
Bits and Pieces:
Irvine-based Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc. said J.C. MacRae, its chief operating officer and chief financial officer, is leaving the company. MacRae’s resignation was effective June 15, but he will continue as a consultant to the ophthalmic drug company through the end of the year. A search for a replacement is under way The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCI Medical Center in Orange celebrated its 10th anniversary earlier this month. The center is named after the family of Allen Chao, chairman and chief executive of Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., Corona.
