SciClone Pharmaceuticals appoints new chief executive

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, April 24 - SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced Monday the appointment of Friedhelm Blobel as president, chief executive officer and a director of the company effective as of June 2.

Ira Lawrence will continue as president and chief executive until June 2 and after that date will serve as a consultant to the company, according to a company news release.

Lawrence also will continue to serve as a director of the company and will serve as a member of the business development committee and the newly formed science review committee of the board of directors. Lawrence's resignation was for personal reasons, officials said.

"Dr. Lawrence has led SciClone very effectively through a challenging time and positioned it well to capitalize on significant opportunities," said Dean S. Woodman, chairman of the board of directors, in a news release.

Blobel served most recently as president, chief executive and director of Gryphon Therapeutics, Inc., a South San Francisco, Calif., biopharmaceutical company.

Prior to joining Gryphon in July 2000, Blobel spent more than 20 years as an executive with the Hoechst Group and the Boehringer Mannheim Group. His work included responsibilities in diabetes and in vitro diagnostics.

His roles at these companies include group president of several product divisions, chief technology officer, general manager in Tokyo of a marketing and sales joint venture between Boehringer and Yamanouchi Pharmaceuticals, senior vice president of research and development of diabetes and patient care in Mannheim, Germany, and Indianapolis.

Blobel earned his doctorate degree with a dissertation in biochemistry and microbiology from the University of Hohenheim, Germany, and holds an advanced degree in chemistry from the University of Stuttgart, Germany.

SciClone is a San Mateo, Calif., biopharmaceutical company that develops therapeutics to treat life-threatening diseases.

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