Italian Company Seeks Foothold In U.S. Science

With a neuroscience institute in Washington and an emphasis on basic research, FIDIA aims to bolster respect worldwide WASHINGTON - Long after the vinyl and paper folders from a typical scientific conference have been tossed in the trash, a genuine imported leather portfolio with bright red decorative stitching and the inscription: "FIDIA-Georgetown Institute for the Neurosciences, November 3, 1985" is likely to remain on the shelves of many scientists. It's just too nice to throw away. That

Written byJules Asher

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With a neuroscience institute in Washington and an emphasis on basic research, FIDIA aims to bolster respect worldwide

WASHINGTON - Long after the vinyl and paper folders from a typical scientific conference have been tossed in the trash, a genuine imported leather portfolio with bright red decorative stitching and the inscription: "FIDIA-Georgetown Institute for the Neurosciences, November 3, 1985" is likely to remain on the shelves of many scientists. It's just too nice to throw away.

That kind of staying power was precisely what FIDIA, an Italian drug company, hoped to achieve when it hired a top designer to help it celebrate its inaugural symposium here four years ago. The portfolio, designed to be a lasting souvenir, also illustrates the ingratiating style with which the expansionist firm has successfully courted an initially wary American neuroscience community. That style has featured an elegant banquet in the imposing grand hall of Washington's ...

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