EXHIBIT 99.1


            NEOTHERAPEUTICS AND J.B. CHEMICALS & PHARMACEUTICALS FORM
         JOINT VENTURE TO MANAGE US CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATORY
                          APPROVALS FOR J.B. PRODUCTS

         IRVINE, Calif., May 1, 2002 - NeoTherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: NEOT) and
J.B. Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (Bombay Stock Exchange: JBCPL) today
announced the formation of NeoJB, LLC. NeoTherapeutics will own 80% of NeoJB and
a JBCPL subsidiary will own the remainder of NeoJB. NeoJB has been formed to
enable NeoTherapeutics to benefit from JBCPL's high quality, lower cost drug
manufacturing capabilities and from the sale of JBCPL's products in the United
States. JBCPL will benefit from NeoTherapeutics' skills in managing the
regulatory process in the United States.

         "JBCPL has built a solid reputation for developing and manufacturing
high quality pharmaceutical products, and we are looking forward to bringing
their products to market through this new venture," stated Alvin J. Glasky,
Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NeoTherapeutics. "Having the
ability to produce high quality drug supplies at lower costs may be important to
us in the future as NeoTherapeutics' growing portfolio of pharmaceutical
products progresses through clinical development."

         "NeoTherapeutics has demonstrated its skills in effectively managing
U.S. regulatory affairs and clinical trials, and we are excited about forming
this partnership to help further our objective of reaching the U.S. market with
our quality pharmaceutical products," said J.B. Mody, Chairman of J.B. Chemicals
& Pharmaceuticals. "JBCPL has a number of products that we believe have
significant potential in the U.S. market, including a number of patented
products. Having a partner who understands the regulatory and marketing steps in
this country should both accelerate and maximize our opportunities."

         JBCPL is an internationally known pharmaceutical company headquartered
in Mumbai, India. Today, its products are marketed and well accepted in over 50
countries and it has 12 manufacturing facilities producing a diverse range of
high quality bulk drugs for domestic use and as a supplier to international
companies. They also sell intermediates, pharmaceutical specialties,
radio-diagnostics, herbal remedies and generic drugs. JBCPL produces and markets
a family of herbal products under the "Doktor Mom" label. Doktor Mom is the
brand leader among cough remedies in Russia, and has been awarded the Reader's
Digest Most Trusted European Brand Award for the past two years. In addition,
JBCPL is actively involved in the research and development of new drug products,
such as JB-7/G a cox-II inhibitor, which is expected to enter clinical
development in the United States as an anti-inflammatory. For more information
on JBCPL visit their website at www.uniquepharma.com.

                                                                         more...

                                                                               2

         NeoTherapeutics seeks to create value for stockholders through
in-licensing and commercialization of anti-cancer drugs, the discovery and
development of central nervous system (CNS) drugs, and the licensing out of new
drug targets discovered through genomics research. The Company's lead oncology
drug, satraplatin, is being prepared for a phase 3 study in prostate cancer.
Phase 2 studies of Neotrofin(TM) in Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury and
chemotherapy-induced neuropathy are ongoing. Additional anti-cancer drugs are in
phase 1 and 2 human clinical trials, and the Company has a rich pipeline of
pre-clinical neurological drug candidates. For additional information visit the
Company's web site at www.neot.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.

                                      # # #