ON A ROLL TECH COMPANIES ALONG THE 101 CORRIDOR AMONG BRIGHT SPOTS.Byline: Evan Pondel Staff Writer The San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. remains a fertile playing field for the technology sector. More than half of the finalists for Deloitte & Touche's 2001 Los Angeles Technology Fast 50 program reside in the 101 Corridor that straddles the Ventura Freeway from Calabasas to Camarillo. ``The tech sector has crashed but the 101 Corridor will survive and thrive,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. Since 1994, Deloitte & Touche, a New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of accounting firm, has used percentage growth in revenue as a standard for its Los Angeles Fast 50 list, an annual awards program. ``This list was created because we wanted to recognize technology companies and the contributions they have made,'' said Suzanne Thompson, a spokeswoman for Deloitte & Touche. While Northern California continues to quiver from tech withdrawal, in Los Angeles' mini version of Silicon Valley the sector remains steadfast. ``We peel tech like an onion,'' Kyser said, alluding to the efficacy of a multilayer tech company that relies on a variety of products to succeed. ``And a lot of our companies are in the cutting-edge type of technology,'' he said. One such company is Chatsworth-based Capstone Turbine Corp., a manufacturer of environmentally sound generators of heat and electricity. ``We feel we're doing quite well ... and the Air Quality Management is all smiles,`` said Keith Field, director of communications Director of Communications is a position in the private and public sectors. The Director of Communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. for Fast 50 finalist Capstone. Capstone's neighbor, Chatsworth-based North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. Scientific, is another finalist. Upon its inception in 1990, the company manufactured a variety of devices that detect radiation in soil samples. However, in 1998 the company entered a new field that proved a boon for its revenues: prostate cancer prostate cancer, cancer originating in the prostate gland. Prostate cancer is the leading malignancy in men in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in men. therapy. ``As a public company we were looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a much bigger market,'' said Alan Edrick, 33, chief financial officer of North America Scientific. The American Cancer Society American Cancer Society, n.pr established in 1913, this national volunteer-based health organization is committed to the elimination of cancer through prevention and treatment and to diminishing cancer suffering through advocacy, scholarship, research, estimates that 198,100 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year. A staggering figure alone - about 31,500 men in the United States will die of prostate cancer in 2001. And, as high-profile individuals such as New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani are diagnosed with the disease, North American Scientific is capitalizing on public awareness. In the company's second quarter, which ended April 30, 2001, net sales Net Sales The amount a seller receives from the buyer after costs associated with the sale are deducted. Notes: This amount is calculated by subtracting the following items from gross sales: merchandise returned for credit, allowances for damaged or missing goods, freight were $5.1 million, a 14 percent increase when compared with revenues of $4.4 million for the same period a year ago. ``They have been very successful ... and the company has a large cash position,'' said John Calcagnini, analyst with CIBC World Markets CIBC World Markets is the investment banking division of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. It helps governments, large companies, and other large institutions obtain capital and credit and is a primary dealer in U.S. Treasury securities. Corp. Try $55 million in the bank, according to Edrick, North American Scientific's CFO See Chief Financial Officer. . The company attributes its monetary health to products that treat prostate cancer called brachytherapy seeds. ``The seeds have been the bread and butter for the company,'' Edrick said. No bigger than a grain of rice, a radioactive seed is implanted in the prostate to eat away at the tumor. Compared with other therapies, the procedure is less invasive and patients can be admitted to the hospital on a Friday and released by Monday, Edrick said. There are two different seeds on the market. One is made of iodine, while the other is palladium. Both essentially serve the same purpose; however, each element has a different half-life that could determine the appropriate seed for a given patient. Separately, the company acquired Theseus Imaging Corporation in October 2000. Theseus' principal product candidate, Apomate, is in clinical trials to assess heart attack damage, response to cancer treatment and heart transplant rejection. While Apomate is a couple of years away from FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. approval, the company is contributing its revenues to the cause. In the second quarter, the company reported a net loss of $9,000 compared with net income of $1.4 million from a year ago. The company attributed the loss to development costs associated with Apomate. At Monday's stock-trading close, North American Scientific was up 25 cents, or 1.72 percent, to $14.80. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) North American Scientific makes radioactive brachytherapy seeds, the size of a rice grain, that can be implanted in a cancer patient's prostate to eat away at the tumor. The Chatsworth company, which started as a maker of radiation-detection devices, shifted to prostate therapy in l998. (2) Alan Eldrick, 33, North American Scientific's chief financial officer, says the company is striving for a much bigger market. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
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