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When Dion Mattison, 37, of Crown Heights, is not teaching Aristotelian philosophy at the New School in Manhattan, he operates the Conatus Surf Club in Rockaway, extolling proper technique to clients.

Reduce a deduction for state income taxes, make a home more expensive, and Mento worries it will be even more "miserable" to recruit employees to work on Conatus' experimental liver disease drug.

Steven Mento, who runs Conatus Pharmaceuticals, a biotech firm out of San Diego, said he isn't about to flee because of lost tax deductions.

The drug that Novartis purchased from Conatus this year dampens inflammation by inhibiting an enzyme called a caspase.

Conatus is targeting end-stage disease with the goal of preventing transplants.