Genset beefs up obesity team

Genset, which was recently hit by a number of resignations by keyresearchers, including Bernard Bihain, who led the team which discovered the anti-obesity agent Famoxin (gAcrp30; Marketletter March 5), has appointed a new scientist to lead development of the compound.

Dr Bihain's replacement is Denis Ravel, former head of the metabolism department at Servier, and the company also announced a number of new appointments to boost the research team, including that of Nancy Sipes, former director of R&D planning at Advanced Tissue Sciences, who joins Genset as director of molecular and cellular biology.

The company said that it now has over 250 researchers, adding that with these new recruits, "together with internal reassignments, Genset is well on its way to replacing the small group of researchers leaving." News of the appointment provided a boost for Genset's share price, which saw a third of its stock's value wiped off in a single day when Dr Bihain announced his departure from the company.