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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1

                             [NEOTHERAPEUTICS LOGO]

Contacts:
MEDIA RELATIONS                               INVESTOR RELATIONS
Jon Siegal                                    John McManus
Ronald Trahan Associates (RTA) Inc.           NeoTherapeutics, Inc.
(508) 647-9782, ext. 15                       (949) 788-6700

          NEOTHERAPEUTICS COMPLETES $5 MILLION DIRECT EQUITY PLACEMENT
                              WITH IAT REINSURANCE

         IRVINE, Calif., March 13, 2001 -- NeoTherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: NEOT;
NEOTW) announced today that it raised $5 million in a transaction negotiated
last week through the placement of common stock with IAT ReInsurance Syndicate,
Ltd. IAT received 1,250,000 shares of common stock calculated at 107 percent of
the 30 day average price and 125,000 warrants at an exercise price of $5 per
share in this transaction, for which the Company incurred no transaction fees.
The purchase brings IAT ReInsurance's holdings of NeoTherapeutics' common stock
to approximately 13 percent of shares outstanding.

         "IAT ReInsurance has a history of being a long-term, committed
investor, and we are pleased to have the firm as a shareholder. The $5 million
we raised in this financing further increases our cash reserves in anticipation
of our upcoming clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and
spinal cord injury", stated Sam Gulko, Chief Financial Officer of
NeoTherapeutics.

         NeoTherapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the
development of drugs for unmet medical needs. The Company's most advanced drug,
Neotrofin(TM), is currently being developed for Alzheimer's disease and other
neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury.
NeoGene Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of NeoTherapeutics, is engaged in
functional genomics research. A second subsidiary, NeoOncoRx, Inc., is engaged
in the development of anti-cancer drugs. NeoOncoRx's lead drug, Neoquin(TM) will
shortly begin a phase 2 clinical study in patients with bladder cancer. For
additional Company information, visit NeoTherapeutics' web site at
www.neotherapeutics.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements regarding future
events and the future performance of NeoTherapeutics that involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks
are described in further detail in the Company's reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

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