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Strategies & Market Trends : Anthony@Pacific & TRUTHSEEKER Expose Crims & Scammers!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ravenseye who wrote (275)	2/21/2006 6:41:53 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 5673

The Men Behind Zicam washingtonpost.com Tuesday, January 31, 2006; Page HE05 Like other scientific entrepreneurs, Robert Steven Davidson thought zinc might be a promising treatment for the common cold. But unlike many inventors of drugs, Davidson and his colleague Charles B. Hensley, who hold patents on Zicam, have unusual backgrounds. Davidson received a bachelor's degree in 2004 from a "virtual" university, Excelsior College in Albany, N.Y. He lists himself as a PhD, a degree he obtained from an unaccredited and now-defunct university in Spain. His colleague and co-inventor Hensley holds a doctorate in physiology from the University of Southern California and is currently chief executive officer of PRB Pharmaceuticals based in Cypress, Calif. Hensley recently received a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the sale over the Internet of an unapproved drug his company makes to treat bird flu. Hensley previously developed a weight-loss remedy that involves sniffing "specially developed aromas." Davidson, who has contributed articles to Men's Fitness magazine, says his doctorate in biopharmaceutical project management and his MBA in international finance were earned at the American University of Asturias in Asturias, Spain, in the late 1990s. The school was closed in 2000 for violations of Spanish law, records show, and is considered a diploma mill by American authorities. Davidson, who sold his interest in Zicam several years ago when he left to start another biotech firm, said he was unaware of any problems with the school in Spain. It is unusual to earn a doctorate before a bachelor's degree, he said in an interview, but his advanced degrees are legitimate. "I did work, a research paper and a dissertation." He declined to discuss whether any safety questions arose during Zicam's development and testing. Davidson said he met Hensley years ago at Cleveland Chiropractic College in Los Angeles, where he was taking classes and Hensley was a professor. On Nov. 23, the FDA sent Hensley a letter about Vira 38, an antiviral compound marketed on PRB's Web site as effective in treating influenza, bird flu and SARS. The regulatory agency told Hensley he was violating federal law by selling an unapproved drug and warned that he and his company could face further legal action including "seizure of illegal products." Hensley did not respond to e-mails or telephone calls. -- Sandra G. Boodman

To: ravenseye who wrote (275)	2/21/2006 10:52:11 PM
From: ravenseye	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5673

...The circumstances surrounding the development of Ms. Remond's column are extremely suspect. The article appeared online in public financial message boards almost immediately following its availability through the Dow Jones "In The Money" subscription-only service. At least one of these message board postings was made by a registered username frequently used by Floyd Schneider, a defendant currently being sued for defamation by Matrixx Initiatives. From at least August 2001 to the present, Schneider has posted false and defamatory statements about Matrixx on various Internet message boards using a variety of anonymous aliases. It has come to our attention that Schneider has also attempted to interfere with Matrixx' business by contacting our retail customers. Ms. Remond's article appears on today's Dow Jones Newswire-the very day that Matrixx Initiatives is deposing Schneider. We believe that the timing of this article was manipulated by Schneider to interrupt the deposition process. We know that Ms. Remond and Schneider were in close communication during the development of Ms. Remond's article and even discussed the disclosure statement detailing the basis for our suit against Schneider, which has not yet been made public. Therefore, it is particularly troubling that Ms. Remond neglected to mention the defamation action or that Schneider was one of her chief sources of information. We consider her failure to mention these facts to be a significant omission in fair and balanced reporting. Matrixx Initiatives would like to underscore that we intend to vigorously pursue those individuals involved in any effort to improperly discredit the company and its products. Furthermore, we strongly urge Dow Jones to open its own investigation to determine whether Dow Jones' credibility was undermined by the use of copyrighted material in an attempt to do further harm to the value and reputation of Matrixx Initiatives and its products.... sec.edgar-online.com yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com