HAYWARD, Calif., Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOR - News) announced that it has been named the recipient of the Child Neurology Foundation's first-ever Corporate Citizenship Award. The Award honors Questcor's long-term commitment to support the child neurology community as well as its specific efforts to fund education and research related to infantile spasms (IS), a very rare but potentially catastrophic childhood seizure disorder.

"One out of four children has a neurological problem, and it will take everyone's advocacy to ensure the best quality of life for all affected children," said Lawrence W. Brown, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and President of the Child Neurology Foundation (CNF).

Dr. Brown, who is also the president of the CNF Board of Directors, noted that in addition to specific initiatives focused on infantile spasms, Questcor also supports the Swaiman Medical Scholarship Program, a mentoring program funded by CNF that provides up to 10 summer clinical research scholarships. He also praised the company for making a 10-year commitment to funding the Child Neurology Society's Phillip R. Dodge Young Investigator Award.

"Questcor has shown outstanding corporate responsibility and leadership, demonstrating how industry can be full partners with physicians, scientists, and parents," Dr. Brown said. "The Child Neurology Foundation is pleased to recognize Questcor's comprehensive scope and extraordinary efforts toward this goal with the first CNF Corporate Citizenship Award. Questcor has been creative and extremely generous with projects from Infantile Spasms Awareness Week to the restoration of the Swaiman Medical Student Summer Scholarship Program and the signature commitment that will go far to endow the Child Neurology Society's Dodge Young Investigator Award."

Steve Cartt, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer for Questcor, accepted the Corporate Citizenship Award on behalf of the company this past Saturday at CNF's annual fundraiser in Minneapolis.

"We are honored to receive this recognition from the Child Neurology Foundation," Cartt said. "Further research into infantile spasms is imperative and we feel strongly about supporting initiatives that will advance the knowledge and treatment of this devastating condition. We also feel very strongly about supporting the child neurology community in general and to help advance the cause of research and education related to pediatric neurological disorders, including infantile spasms."

For the past three years, Questcor has supplied CNF an unrestricted educational grant to help fund Infantile Spasms Awareness Week. The goal of IS Awareness Week is to provide pediatricians, child neurologists, parents, and caregivers with objective educational tools that will help increase awareness and understanding of infantile spasms.

As part of this education effort, CNF has developed a website, http://www.infantilespasmsinfo.org, an educational IS brochure and DVD that provides information on IS from leading child neurologists and shares stories from families coping with this devastating condition. Questcor also provided CNF a grant for the IS Hero Award that recognizes a deserving child neurologist and medical institution, nominated by a parent, for making a positive difference in the life of a child with IS. In addition, the company funds a yearly grant which supports basic research into IS.

Infantile Spasms

Infantile Spasms is a severe, ultra-rare form of epilepsy that affects infants, with onset typically occurring during the first year of life in about 90 percent of cases. IS incidence is estimated at approximately 2,000 new cases in the U.S. per year, which can be classified as an ultra-orphan disease. For comparison, orphan disease designation pertains to diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the US. IS patients experience rapid, characteristic muscular contraction or extensions lasting one to two seconds and occurring in clusters ranging from a few spasms to more than 100 spasms per cluster. Often, in the beginning, the attacks are brief, infrequent and not typical, so it is quite common for the diagnosis to be delayed. Frequently, due to the pattern of the attacks and the cry that an infant gives during or after an attack, the attacks are sometimes initially thought to be due to colic or gastric distress. 

About the Child Neurology Foundation

Founded in October 2000, the Child Neurology Foundation was created as the outreach and philanthropic arm of the Child Neurology Society. Members of the CNS include more than 1,300 child neurologists from the United States, Canada, as well as more than 30 other countries around the world.

The Foundation's mission is to advocate for children and adolescents with neurologic and developmental disorders; fund neurologic research of young investigators; promote awareness of career opportunities in child neurology; provide public, professional, and patient education programs; and support the activities and mission of the CNS.

For more information on the CNF, please visit http://www.childneurologyfoundation.org.

About Questcor Pharmaceuticals

Questcor is a biopharmaceutical company whose products help patients with serious, difficult-to-treat medical conditions. Questcor's specific areas of focus are in the fields of neurology and nephrology and the company is currently supporting research efforts in a variety of conditions having significant unmet medical need.  Questcor was recently selected by Forbes as the #1 rated small company in America. For more information, please visit http://www.questcor.com.

Read more:
Questcor Recognized by Child Neurology Foundation for Outstanding Corporate Responsibility and Leadership