DUAL ROLE SPLIT AT WELLCOME?

In the wake of the announcement that John Precious will be vacating his post as financial director at Wellcome (Marketletter June 13), pressure is growing for John Robb to separate his dual function as chairman and chief executive of the company.

Some investors in the company have made it clear that they consider management instability to be a factor that make shareholders uneasy,, and that splitting John Robb's responsibilities could go towards stabilizing the current situation.

The date of John Precious' departure has not been fixed yet and he is currently still with Wellcome. Wellcome appointed Anthony Tennant as deputy chairman at the start of the current year, and in April (Marketletter April 18) the company announced the merger of its entire R&D and medical operations into one unit. David Barry was made responsible for R&D and medical affairs for the group as a whole and Trevor Jones, formerly responsible for R&D and medical affairs outside the USA, took on an advisory role to the company.