SB Makes Makes New Appointments To New Research Group

Anglo-American drug company SmithKline Beecham has appointed three senior researchers in bioinformatics. Chris Rawlings, previously with the UK Imperial Cancer Research Fund; Jim Fickett, formerly at the Los Alamos National Laboratory; and Randy Smith, formerly of the Baylor College of Medicine, will form the nucleus of a new research group, part of an overall bioinformatics effort planned by SB to include over 50 scientists and engineers by the end of 1996.

David Searls, group director of bioinformatics at SB said: "these appointments are just a beginning. Much more work obviously needs to be done. But the committment SB has already made clearly demonstrates our determination at the highest levels to create a premier center of excellence for this emerging technology."

Headquarters To Shift To USA? Meantime, an article in the UK's Independent on Sunday suggested that the company is planning to shift its corporate headquarters from the UK to the USA to cut costs and simplify its management structure. The article said that the move would mean the loss of a minimum of 500 jobs in the UK. SB, whose chief executive Jan Leschly has relocated to the USA, has denied the intention of a transfer of the company's HQ.