Neocrin’s Diabetes Research Continuing Without Baxter

Neocrin Inc., a tiny Irvine research firm trying to develop a better treatment for diabetes, has gone back to the drawing board.

The company, launched four years ago as a partnership between giant Baxter International and tiny Santa Ana-based Trancel Corp., still aims to perfect an artificial pancreas that would use insulin-producing cells to control a diabetic’s insulin requirements better than injections.

But the partnership broke up last year, when Neocrin’s scientists decided to abandon technology developed by Baxter for something they considered more promising. Dr. David Scharp, Neocrin’s chief scientist, says Neocrin wanted to try encapsulating each cell in a plastic coating, while Baxter would package the cells together. Scharp says Neocrin also wants to use cells from pigs, while Baxter wants to use human cells.

A Baxter spokeswoman also said the company withdrew because it’s no longer directing research dollars into diabetes treatments.

With its big corporate brother gone, Neocrin is relying on venture capital to sustain itself. “Like every other small company in the world, we’re looking for support,” Scharp says. “We’ll be out of cash somewhere in the first part of 1997.”