Genentech has chosen Stanford scientist Richard Scheller, PhD, to succeed Dennis Henner, PhD, as head of research.

Scheller will take over in March as senior VP-research following Henner's retirement. He will report to Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson, PhD.

Scheller is a professor of molecular and cellular physiology and of biological sciences at Stanford. He is also an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Scheller has been in academia since he joined Stanford in 1982 as an assistant professor.

At Genentech, Scheller will oversee a drug discovery effort comprising eight directors and about 400 researchers. As head of research, Scheller will also chair the company's research review committee.

Genentech's choice of Scheller to head its research division is a departure from its practice of appointing company insiders to the position. Scheller's predecessors as head of research, Henner and Levinson, were both Genentech veterans by the time they took over the research position.

Henner has 20 years of experience in Genentech's research division. He became head of research in mid-1996 after Levinson assumed the CEO position, and he was officially named senior VP-research in April 1998.

Levinson was moved to CEO after 15 years of experience on the company's research programs (¹ Also see "Genentech Brings Marketing Back To Senior Management: Potter To COO" - Pink Sheet, 22 May, 2000.). Levinson's move to CEO followed a series of government actions against Genentech's promotions of its key products. At that time, the company sought to shift its emphasis from sales and marketing towards commercial development.

More recently, Genentech brought big pharma sales and marketing expertise back into its senior management structure with the appointment of former Bristol-Myers Squibb exec Myrtle Potter as chief operating officer and exec VP-commercial operations. The company named former Boron, LePore & Associates Exec VP Claudia Estrin as VP-decision support & commercial innovation in December. Estrin reports to Potter.

Genentech Research To Be Headed By Stanford Scientist Scheller

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