HEALTH CARE

ICN’s Big Market: When Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev came to sunny Southern California, he went to Disneyland. The latest Russian politician to step foot in Orange County, however, bypassed the theme park and headed to Costa Mesa instead.

Vladimir Jakovlev, the vice mayor of St. Petersburg, spent his time at the world headquarters of ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., the $1-billion drug firm founded by Milan Panic, the former prime minister of Yugoslavia.

ICN recently purchased St. Petersburg-based Oktyabr, Russia’s oldest drug company, transferring stock to the 280-year-old plant’s 2,175 workers. It has also announced plans to construct a new manufacturing plant there.

Jakovlev pointed out that ICN is virtually the only U.S. drug company with significant investments in Eastern Europe--all others have continued to shy away from the potentially unstable region.

“Most businessmen are reluctant to invest in Russia,” Jakovlev said Tuesday. “This project will set a good example for others and will provide much-needed products for our country.”