Lynelle Berkey's inside track to succeed Gil Partida as president of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce has something to do with new Chairman Anne Evans, an executive presumably unburdened by traditional sexism, but who would be burdened if another contender, Chamber Senior V.P. Richard Ledford, were seriously considered for the job. As his aunt, Evans probably would recuse herself. By title, responsibility and management experience, Berkey has more credentials than when Partida walked in the door five years ago. And at age 37, she's probably more mature than Partida who took the reins at age 30. In December 1996, just before Berkey joined the Chamber, San Diego Metropolitan profiled the former Miss Colorado, who joined the old La Jolla Saks Fifth Avenue in 1980 in a general office position and was promoted to assistant g.m. within three months. (The profile is always available online at sandiegometro.com.) She worked the South Coast Plaza and Palm Springs stores before opening the Fashion Valley Saks in 1995 as g.m. At Saks, she oversaw 151 employees in 19 departments. Her former Saks boss says Berkey is astute, positive, enthusiastic, a role model and a good decision maker.

***

     Bill Black accepted congratulations at the annual luncheon of the British-American Chamber of Commerce at the Catamaran Hotel; he was appointed honorary British consul at San Diego, reporting to Paul Diamond, the new consul general in L.A., responsible for all of California, Arizona, Utah and Clark County, Nev.
     Chamber President Hugh Constant thanked retiring World Trade Center San Diego President Bob Plotkin for providing space and support in the WTC for creation and maintenance of the Chamber.
     Pat Flynn of British Airways advised that the end of March is targeted for introducing a 747-400 to San Diego-London service, replacing a DC 10, or just as soon as Boeing can deliver the new aircraft.
     Margaret Kuhn, still aglow from her promotion to first v.p. of Bank of Commerce, had the most fun at the luncheon. She won three or four door prizes — a reporter lost count — including a round trip for two to London on British Airways.
     Ron Choularton, publisher of Union Jack, won, for him, a useless door prize, a one-year subscription to Union Jack. John Lincoln, president and CEO of Cubic Commercial Operations, attended, as did executives of Solar and Qualcomm. Diamond said more than 80 San Diego-based companies operate in the U.K., and British companies employ 111,000 people in California.

***

     Earlier last month, Plotkin was trotting around Mario Brossi, North America's senior officer from the Swiss Office for Industry and Labour. His message: Previously restrictive Switzerland now will allow business investors to own real estate, meaning they can acquire operating companies that own real property. "Based on the reaction of the American real estate community and the Urban Land Institute, we’re likely to see renewed interest in Switzerland," says Brossi.
     The Swiss rep also is stoked that CORE, the European counterpart of SAIC's WWW domain name function, is setting up shop in Geneva. Brossi was hosted here by the Trade Finance Department of Union Bank of California.

***

     And then there's the waterfront developer who referred a friend to his preferred builder. "You don’t want to mention his name to me," says the builder. "He's being served (with a lawsuit) this afternoon."

***

     Lou Cumming, the veteran banker who started in 1965 with the former First National Bank and left Cuyamaca Bank in 1995 for a stint at Monarch Bank in Laguna Niguel, has accepted a position as regional v.p. for southern Orange County for Sun Country Bank. He’ll commute from La Jolla to offices in Laguna Niguel and Mission Viejo.
     Cumming, who presided over the San Diego Symphony for two seasons, from 1982 to 1984, founded the Pops at Hospitality Point. He's the president who committed to purchasing the Fox Theater and converting it to Symphony Hall, the one who established an endowment fund for the symphony at the Community Foundation, the president who reduced the deficit to a nominal sum coming off of a $1 million cash loss in 1981, before he took office. Of course, he has an opinion on the current state of the symphony's bankrupt affairs.
     Cumming says the mayor should remove herself from the equation. He says the business plan written by a consultant needs to see the light of day. Is it complete, or not? If not, why not? Public outrage would be in order right about now, says Cumming, because this has been languishing for 18 months since the symphony filed for bankruptcy protection.
     Donors won’t step forward to commit dollars until a sound reorganization business plan has been written, reviewed, revised and approved, he says. All Cumming has heard is people talking about it, not doing it. "It’s time to separate the pepper from the fly shi-," he says, alluding to a tedious task that only a bank credit officer could relish.

***

     "I walked in, looked around the rotunda and said, 'Wow!' and they looked at me and said, 'Yeah, that’s the reaction everybody has,'" recalls Peter MacCracken, who got a preview of the new Lindbergh Field terminal. "It’s phenomenal. When you think about what this airport was three or four years ago and you look at this new addition, they're worlds apart. But you would expect me to say that." MacCracken represents SGPA Architecture and Planning, which designed the airport expansion and renovation. SGPA President David Reinker served as project director, William Headley as project architect and Robin Tsuchida as deputy project director.

***

     Stamped in red on the back of the business cards that Super Bowl Chairman Jim Brown hands out: "No Tickets."

***

     Scheduled to stop in San Diego on Jan. 5 is the m/s Paul Gauguin, an 18,800 ton ultra-deluxe cruise ship. The ship left port in Florida Dec. 20, a day after being christened in Port Everglades by Maria Gauguin, great granddaughter of post-impressionist artist Paul Gauguin. It will be the ship's only stop here as the vessel will earn its keep cruising the waters of the South Pacific.
     The maiden voyage was a sold-out 16-night Christmas and New Year’s holiday from Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego. Built by France's Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, the ship will be based year-round in French Polynesia. Owned by Services et Transports of France, the vessel offers 160 ocean view staterooms (50 percent with private balconies), a retractable marina for its water sports program, and a spa by Carita of Paris. Starting Jan. 31, the Paul Gauguin will offer seven-night cruises sailing every Saturday from Papeete, Tahiti, to Rangiroa, Raiatea, Bora Bora and Moorea. Prices start at $2,795 per person (for bookings made at least 120 days in advance), plus round-trip air.

***

     San Diego is the nation's eighth most proficient county when it comes to creating new businesses, say the authors of the Lead Sheet Report compiled by County Data Corp. Through the first 10 months of 1997, 8,931 new businesses started in San Diego, accounting for 0.81 percent of all new businesses nationwide. Houston generated the most new businesses, 29,286. San Diego was just behind San Antonio's 9,393 new businesses and just ahead of Austin's 8,453. In 1996, San Diego was responsible for 9,198 new businesses, and again held the eighth spot on the list.

***

     Cyril Hennum had surgery on her left wrist a few months ago, and then her right wrist over the holidays. She’ll be back at John Burnham & Co. in early January. "Thank heavens I’m ambidextrous," says Malin Burnham's assistant.

***

     Qualcomm Inc. this month introduces a free, Web-based version of its popular Eudora e-mail program. Among the neat features of Eudora Web-Mail is its auto-forward option that allows users to send and receive their e-mails from existing Eudora accounts via the Web. Log onto www.eudoramail.com to register for a free private account.

***

     Dan Greenblat, a noted executive political aide whose clients have included former Rep. Bill Lowery and former Sheriff Jim Roache, has formed Viewpoint America, a market research, opinion polling and public affairs firm. Immediately before starting the firm, Greenblat was a consultant and managed the custom research division of Luth Research Inc.

***

     A skirmish over whether Prospect Street in La Jolla should be turned into a one-way street is set to go before the San Diego City Council on Feb. 2. It all started in July with traffic questions that arose when a proposal was spiked for redeveloping the historic Green Dragon Colony. Since then, a community task force — a court reporter took down transcripts of its 12 meetings — has prepared nine recommendations for the city. This seriously-influential group's members include Robert Thiele, Anthony Hai, Chuck Berke, Marty McGee, George Hauer, Mark Oliver, Ron Zappardino, Peter Wagner, James Alcorn, Courtney Coyle, Claude Anthony Merengo and Orrin Gabsch.
     The Prospect recommendation is drawing the heat. Leading the opposition is Lincoln Foster, who owns two buildings on the street. He and his supporters have taken out ads in La Jolla community newspapers opposing the change, and have retained ace planning attorney Lynne Heidel. Task Force Chairman Thiele declines to discuss the case; Foster is eager. He says the move will increase the speed of traffic, jeopardize the safety of the tourists and others who now easily jaywalk and stands primarily to benefit the restaurants that use valet parking. In a nutshell, he sees nothing wrong with the traffic. "La Jolla is a destination," Foster says. "It is not a passage on the way to somewhere else... There are communities that spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to promote business and bring in throngs of people. That kind of congestion, or assembly of patrons, is a sign of success."

***

     Jackson's Hole, that ugly, rebar-infested abandoned construction site on F Street and Ninth Avenue behind the Downtown post office, is about to disappear. Site barricades and construction signage go up this month with work on a 114-unit moderate-income rental project starting in February.

***

     In a major pitch to drum up interest in Downtown residential construction, the Centre City Development Corp. advertises nationally this month for developers interested in three sites. Up for grabs are the full block (60,000 square feet) next to Ralphs, which is bounded by First Avenue and G, Market and Front Streets; a 40,000-square-foot parcel on the north side of Island Avenue between First Avenue and Front Street that is now used as a bus staging yard by Greyhound; and the Golden West Properties, a 20,000-square-foot site on the south side of Market Street between Second and Third avenues. The full block and Greyhound sites would have buildings a minimum of eight stories tall. Golden West would be at least four stories. Proposals are due May 8.

***

     Mayor Golding and County Supervisor Greg Cox will be the guest speakers when the Downtown San Diego Partnership holds its annual installation luncheon Jan. 7 at the Westgate Hotel. Also at the lunch, Craig Irving of the Irving Hughes Group will be installed as 1998 Partnership chairman.

***

     Stoorza, Ziegaus & Metzger Inc. was the only local PR firm to be recognized as a "regional powerhouse" by Inside PR magazine in the publication's yearly agency report card issue.

***

     The Harbor Club rounded out a successful sales year by announcing it has fewer than 50 condos for sale (including four penthouses) out of its original 201. In September the property reached halfway sold. Sales director Kit Schindler says her team sold more than $27 million in condos last year, averaging six sales per month since July. Overall sales at the property have surpassed $54 million.

***

     Two San Diego properties were involved in Prentiss Properties Trust's recent $43.3 million purchase of Southern California real estate. The Dallas-based REIT bought the Carlsbad Pacific Center, a two-building office complex totaling 89,755 square feet; and the Oceanside Distribution Center, a 143,274-square-foot industrial building in the Rancho Del Oro Technology Park. The two-building Carlsbad Pacific Center is located on the southwest corner of Interstate 5 and Palomar Airport Road. The property includes a 2.5-acre pad for future development of a 41,000-square-foot office building.

***

     Esquire Communications Ltd., a growing San Diego-based court reporting company, has acquired Henry Jacobs Associates and Affiliated/ Certified Reporting Co., two court reporting firms in Manhattan. The additions along with 10 acquisitions announced in November, bring the company’s annualized revenues to about $75 million. Esquire is a nationwide legal support services company with operations in 10 states and 12 markets.

***

     Bank of Commerce has sold $24.7 million of the unguaranteed portion of its Small Business Administration 7(a) loan portfolio to General Electric Capital Small Business Finance Corp. of St. Louis. BofC will record a $3.2 million pretax gain in the fourth quarter 1997 as a result.
     "This transaction is the first time in our 22 year history that we have marketed only the unguaranteed portion of SBA loans in our portfolio," says Peter Davis, chairman and CEO of Bank of Commerce. "In the past the unguaranteed portion of our SBA loans were sold only as part of a securitization. The authority to sell only the unguaranteed portion is a relatively new right, and the ability to sell individual loans affords our asset management team greater flexibility in addressing the bank's liquidity and capital needs." This loan transaction represents 7.1 percent of Bank of Commerce's $351 million SBA loan portfolio and 6.4 percent of its total loan portfolio of $393 million. The reported gain stems from receiving a premium over the face amount of the loans and the immediate recognition of fee income that was being amortized over the life of the loans in the portfolio.

***

     Sempra Energy is the name chosen for San Diego’s first Fortune 300 company, an entity that will result from the merger of Enova Corp. and Pacific Enterprises. Sempra will be headquartered in the SDG&E Building on Ash Street Downtown.
     Sempra is derived from the Latin word "semper," which means "always." The companies say the name was chosen after extensive market research with energy customers in key markets across the United States. The name takes effect when the merger, which creates a $5.2 billion company, is completed this summer.

***

     First National Bank has strengthened its international operations by opening two new branches in the South Bay, one in San Ysidro and the other in Chula Vista.

***

     An ad for Digital City San Diego in San Diego Magazine sports a beautiful photo of downtown L.A.

***

     Automated inventory management software created by San Diego-based Petrolsoft Corp. is now ensuring that 4,300 Mobil gas stations in the United States never run out of fuel. Under the old system, customers placed orders individually using touch-tone phones and Mobil then dispatched the tankers. Petrolsoft is billing the Mobil system as "the largest automated inventory management system in the world."
     Every day, the Petrolsoft program, named Supply, gathers sales and inventory data from gas stations. It then generates up to 15 future orders for those stations with balanced quantities and suggested times of delivery.

***

     Receiving its largest outside investment to date, Rubio's Restaurants Inc., operator of Rubio's Baja Grill restaurants, has raised $10.1 million through a private placement of convertible preferred stock. The placement was directed by NationsBanc Montgomery Securities Inc., with Farallon Capital Management L.L.C. of San Francisco as the leading investor. Farallon principal, Jason Fish, will join Rubio's board. (Fish. Rubio's. Nice.)
     The new equity will be used for expansion in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. Rubio's, a private, family-operated $30-million, 42-location restaurant chain in the quick-service segment, will open about 20 units in 1998. It plans to grow to more than 100 restaurants by the year 2000.
     Rubio's initial private placement was sold in February 1995, when Rosewood Capital L.P., also of San Francisco, invested $3 million in Rubio's and Rosewood principal, Kyle Anderson, joined the Rubio's board. In March 1996, Rosewood invested an additional $4 million and, in this latest round, pumped in another $2.5 million, raising its total stake to $9.5 million.

***

     Koll Real Estate Group and its joint venture partner Citicorp North America have started building the San Diego Distribution Center, a 195,000-square-foot speculative manufacturing and distribution center. The partnership, which purchased the property from Hamann Construction, doing business as Brown Field Business Park LP, for $1.85 million, expects to complete the $11 million project this spring.
     The distribution center will feature flexible space divisible to 20,000 square feet, 24-foot-clear heights, dock-high and grade-level loading and a 120-foot truck turning radius. The site at the corner of Otay Mesa Road and Britannia Boulevard is within the 130-acre Brown Field Business Park. CB Commercial is marketing the project for lease or sale to both single and multiple manufacturing, R&D and warehouse and distribution users.

***

     More than 500 Japanese students learn about that country's culture by attending the Minato Gakuen school on the campus of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista. Many are the children of executives who work at San Diego or Tijuana subsidiaries of of Japanese-based companies such as Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Casio and Sony.

***

     La Jolla-based Genesis Mortgage Corp. has opened a North County office at 7020 Avenida Encinas in Carlsbad. George Speak runs the place.

***

     When the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina went online with iCom Network, it was the 50th location to use the dollar bill/credit card-operated NetSite Kiosk designed by the Sorrento Valley-based company. The company was founded a year ago this month by Eric Wagner, its president. Its first machine was installed in March in a Pacific Beach coffee shop.

***

     The new Superior Court Website — www.co.san-diego.ca.us — is designed to keep investigative, research and law firms abreast of new filings and department rules. It may be the first place to find out if you’re being sued.

***

     The Greater San Diego Inner-City Games take over the Rancho Santa Fe Polo Grounds on Jan. 17, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is called Polo Golf 1998 and among the scheduled activities are an exhibition polo match, golf cart polo, nine holes of "Whacky Golf," and hot air balloon rides. The cost for a company to enter a team is $1,000. For more information, call 696-7222.

***

     North Island Federal Credit Union took home a Gold Level Award in the recently completed 1997 California Quality Awards program. Sponsored by the California Council for Quality & Service, the Eureka is based exclusively upon the criteria used for the Malcolm Baldrige awards. NIFCU is the only financial institution to ever win this award.

***

     News about how buildings are being run worldwide is in store for members of the San Diego Building Owners and Managers Association when it hears Jan. 14 from BOMA International President Bill Garland. The noon lunch is at the Hilton Beach & Tennis Resort.

***

     Among the newest of the new retailers in Mission Valley is Hold It, located in Park Valley Center. Billed as the place "where San Diego gets organized," Hold It offers more than 5,000 products designed to help at home and at the office.

***

     Systems Engineering Associates, which in July formed a three-year strategic alliance with SDSU, says that more than 25 of its employees have graduated from the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer program. Mission Valley-based Systems Engineering contributed $50,000 in resources to fund the pilot course at SDSU.

***

     In its latest issue, P.O.V. Magazine ranks San Diego 28th on its list of "The Best Cities To Start A Business." The publication looked at 75 cities, evaluating them on the following criteria:

Quality of Life (25 percent)
Coolness (25 percent)
Educated Workforce
(5 percent)
Taxes (10 percent)
Infrastructure (5 percent)
Success Ratio (15 percent)
Job Growth (15 percent)

     Topping the list was Austin, Texas. San Diego was one spot behind New York City and one spot ahead of Charlotte, N.C. San Diego was the top-ranked city in California, with San Francisco next at 41, Los Angeles at 48, San Jose at 59, Sacramento at 72, Oakland at 73 and Fresno bringing up the absolute rear at 75. No Orange County cities placed. P.O.V. is targeted at young, mostly-single male professionals with disposable income who think they are happening.

***

     The wrap party burned the whole night at E Street Alley, but the real test comes in mid-January when Telecom Beach begins broadcasting the T Channel, the Technology Channel, on San Diego’s cable networks. Doug Foxworthy, CEO of Telecom Beach, hopes to take the concept national this year, and uses no less than Larry Namer, founder of the Entertainment Channel, for advice. (Namer took the E-Channel public in a $1.4 billion IPO.)
     The wrap party celebrated completion of two hours of initial programming composed of mini-pilots that may be spun off into their own programs called "Telecom Beach Scrapbook," "Leisure Lifestyle," "Ultimate Gamer," "Outdoor Lifestyle," "Connect for Profits," "Help Me Mr. Wizard" and "Tribes of Technology."
     "The term we use is 'digital lifestyle programming,'" says Foxworthy, a consulting veteran of Compton's NewMedia. "It shows us using the tools of technology in everyday lifestyles. It’s not geek-oriented."
     Production is done at Convergence Studios, a 40,000-square-foot facility at 7864 Ronson Road on Kearny Mesa. While about 65 people participated in the initial production, the company has seven employees, including Susan Reed, Makoto Nonaka, Faith Fleury, Tom Kihneman, Jeff Kelley, Tom McGrew and Foxworthy, who expects to air on Cox Channels 4 and 75, Southwestern 12 and 81, and Daniels 3 and 4. He wants to go national in six months and is working with Intermedia Grup Creativo in Tijuana to launch Playa Telecom in the Mexican market next year.

***

     Donald L. Viles, CFO of Anacomp, is the next lucky senior executive to relocate from Indianapolis to Anacomp's new headquarters on Crosthwait Circle in Poway, where about 430 of the company’s 2,700 worldwide employees work. The publicly traded company, best known by San Diegans for its surviving parts of General Dynamics' former Datagraphix unit, is well into its recovery under CEO Ralph W. Koehrer, who resides in La Jolla. Anacomp provides information delivery systems and has become expert at transferring computer data to microfilm for storage for reasons similar to why computer data is often stored on tape. Its most popular product in the microfilm business is the XFP 2000.
     Anacomp probably won’t complete its headquarters consolidation until late in 1998. Only 15 to 20 more people are expected to move from Indianapolis. Another 100 or so jobs may may be created locally this year.

***

     Carol A. Shumway, former v.p. of finance of Compass Management and Leasing Inc., has been promoted to senior v.p., responsible for Southern California, Nevada and Arizona, where Compass manages about 13 million square feet of office space, including 3.1 million in San Diego County.

***

     Janice (Hayward) Penrose has left Nelson Communications Group, joining Michael Busselen in opening a San Diego office of Fleishman-Hillard International Communications. They'll represent Pacific Bell.

***

     Accepting the crystal gavel from Bill Rastetter, David Robinson was installed as the new president of Biocom San Diego, the biocommercial trade group. Rastetter named Susan Davis Biocom Legislator of the Year for championing AB 764. The bill, signed by the governor, eliminates duplicative inspection of biotech facilities by the state and the FDA.
     Robinson, CEO of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., said biotechnology "has never been stronger," whether measured by patents issued, new science, capital, intellectual talent or employment in quality or quantity.
     "If biotech has a future, it’s in continuing to execute the many good business plans from our young companies," he said. While the industry sports some 300 approved products, there are "maybe 600 to 700 in the clinical pipeline. The number of products in the pipeline assures this industry of a second wave of success, and we couldn’t say that five years ago... If we only do as well as our pharmaceutical brethren, we will grow from $7 billion (industry wide) to $25 billion-plus by the year 2003 or 2004."
     Robinson cut his inaugural address in half to yield the floor to the real entertainer, Union-Tribune cartoonist/comedian Steve Kelley. "The great challenges that face us," part two, will be delivered at 7:30 a.m. Jan. 15, at the Sheraton Grande Torrey Pines. Call Biocom at (619) 455-0300 for reservations.
     New to Robinson's Biocom board this year are Karen Klause, CEO of Digirad; John Lyon, head of Vista Medical Technologies; Randall Whitfield, president of Via Medical Corp.; and Chris Woolley, regional v.p. of Imperial Bank.

***

     Travelers Aid will be the primary beneficiary of the Jan. 5 Lindbergh Field grand opening event, 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the new terminal. About 1,400 people mostly in the travel business, but also many of the Port District's non-Lindbergh tenants, are expected to attend.
     The biggest public events will be held 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 2 and 3, as all San Diegans are invited to an open house. A more chi-chi event will be held the evening of Jan. 4 to benefit the USO. Formal dedication ceremonies are scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Jan. 6.
     The Jan. 5 beneficiary, Travelers Aid Society of San Diego Inc., served 356,549 people in fiscal 1997, mostly at Lindbergh Field but also at the Santa Fe Depot and Cruise ship Terminal. It answers an average of 977 questions a day. While many of the answers are easy, some are difficult. Travelers Aid volunteers, who donated 19,664 hours last year, are trained to handle emergencies, including communication between youth runaways and their parents. Mary Colacicco is president of TA. Don Hall of Yellow Cab chairs the board, with Elaine Balok as first vice chair.

***

     "This is the most passive aggressive market I’ve ever met," says Mel Epstein, who with wife Chris opened Marketing Vision, an advertising agency in La Jolla, after a lifetime in and near New York. "You can tell San Diego anything and it'll bounce right back to its original form. The stadium doesn’t have enough seats? That's OK, we’ll fix it."

Aliens, Otterson And Agouron Star At
Connect's Most Innovative Products Luncheon

    Aliens disturbed by the Mars Pathfinder snatched Bill Otterson away from the podium at the start of UCSD Connect's Most Innovative Products awards luncheon. Otterson, Connect's director, was later released unharmed. The Aliens were part of an elaborate gag that include numerous videotaped "news breaks" announced by television anchorman Marty Levin, who also moderated the Hyatt Regency La Jolla luncheon. The 900-person crowd was a record, although Barbara Bry, Connect's director of programs, said the even better news was that the city of San Diego had guaranteed attendance of 975, so next year the luncheon would get a rent credit in the form of parking subsidies.
     Paul Steiger, managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, was the keynote speaker. He discussed the newspaper's strategy of covering technology companies — it likes electronics over biomeds as their journey to meaningful revenue is swifter — and acknowledged that San Diego was being under covered.
Award categories and the winners follow:

    Entertainment & Leisure, Rokenbok Toy Co. for its Rokenbok System (the company’s first production run sold out); General Business, XXsys Technologies for its Robo-Wrapper; High-Tech Electronics, XLNT Inc. for its Millenium 4000 ethernet switch; Life Sciences, Advanced Tissue Sciences for its Dermagraft-TC temporary skin substitute; Software, Wright Strategies for its FormLogic data collection software for hand-held devices; Internet, PersonaLogic for its Personalized Decision Guides that help consumers sort through information on products and services; and Telecommunications, Peregrine Semiconductor for its PE 32821 integrated circuit for wireless communications.
In addition, Otterson presented a "Sponsors Award" to Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. for being the first San Diego biotech to win FDA approval for a therapeutic product — Viracept for the treatment of HIV infection. Otterson says Agouron's achievement was the year’s single most important event in San Diego’s biotech industry.