Good NY Times article on Human Genome
William A. Haseltine, the bold-talking chairman and chief executive of Human Genome Sciences, will be leaving the company as it struggles to realize his grand vision of parlaying genetic information into a cornucopia of new drugs.
Dr. Haseltine said yesterday that he would retire later this year, probably in the fall, after a successor is found and he turns 60. He said that the move was voluntary and that as the company shifted from gene research to drug development it needed an experienced pharmaceutical executive at the top rather than a scientist like himself.
Still, the company is under pressure because its two leading drugs have failed in clinical trials. The stock, which closed yesterday at $11.39, has fallen far from the heights of $241 it attained four years ago when it seemed to epitomize the promise of genomics.
Indeed, the company, based in Rockville, Md., plans to announce today that it is dropping development of about half the drugs in its pipeline to focus on five of the most promising ones. It said it was also cutting about 200 jobs, or about 20 percent of its work force.
Dr. Haseltine, who will also give up his board seat, denied that he was pushed out. "It was really the other way around," he said. "I've been pressuring the board."
Max Link, the lead independent director of the board, agreed.
"The stock price did not play any role," said Dr. Link, who is the former chief executive of Sandoz, now part of Novartis. "We were looking at the fundamentals and felt the time had come now to sharpen our focus. There are very few founders who have the grace to catch the right moment for them to leave."
Still, it did not seem obvious that such changes were needed now.
With about $1.3 billion in cash, Human Genome Sciences is not in imminent danger of running out of money. And with its most advanced drug in midstage clinical trials, it is no further advanced in drug development than it was before its first two drugs failed.
Dr. Haseltine's departure in some ways echoes that of J. Craig Venter, who left the top spot at Celera Genomics two years ago as that company turned to drug development and away from genomics. Dr. Venter, however, was clearly pushed out.
The two men, once business partners, have since become unfriendly rivals. Both are widely described as brilliant and driven, with big egos and a penchant for the grand statement.
Dr. Haseltine, for his part, is also known as a Renaissance man and jet- setter. He lives in both New York and Washington, decorates the company's office with prints of famous artwork, and is married to Gale Hayman, who was the co-founder of the Giorgio boutique in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Human Genome Sciences was founded in 1992 as the for-profit partner of a nonprofit institute set up by Dr. Venter to find genes.
Dr. Haseltine apparently thought that this would be a shortcut to discovering drugs. His idea seemed vindicated when, in 1993, SmithKline Beecham, now GlaxoSmithKline, paid $125 million for access to Human Genome's genetic database.
But genomics has not accelerated drug development. While drug companies have been inundated with genes, they must still figure out what the genes do and still must develop chemicals to influence the effects of those genes.
GlaxoSmithKline so far has put only two drugs discovered using the database into clinical trials. Human Genome Sciences has put in several, more than any other genomics company. But its first two drugs did not work as expected.
The company's most advanced drug now is LymphoStat-B for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, which is in the second of three phases of clinical trials.
The company said it would now focus on that drug, as well as on two drugs for cancer and a long-acting alpha interferon for hepatitis C, all of them in early-stage trials. It also plans to start trials this year of an AIDS drug intended to block the way the virus enters the cells it infects.
Dr. Haseltine, who was a professor at Harvard before founding Human Genome, said he would probably work now on applying science to improve health care in the developing world. He said he would also remain active in Washington policy affairs. He is on the board of trustees of the Brookings Institution and involved with the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations and other organizations.
"I've sort of lived my life in 10-year chunks - 10 years on cancer, 10 years on AIDS, now it's been 12 years at this company," he said. "I think I have one or two more chunks left."
According to the most recent proxy, he owns six million shares of Human Genome, worth about $70 million. His stake was once worth more than half a billion dollars.
Dr. Haseltine said he was proud of what his company and the field of genomics had accomplished.
"I would argue that a lot of people have given genomics a false rap," he said, adding that the techniques have provided targets for drugs. "Where the system is broken is later on, it's moving the drugs through the pipeline."
Kenneth C. Carter, a former Human Genome executive who now runs Avalon Pharmaceuticals, a younger company, said Dr. Haseltine's legacy was secure, despite the setbacks in bringing drugs to market.
"They created a quantum leap in biomedical science," Dr. Carter said. "I think when history looks back they won't judge H.G.S. by whether they had one or three Phase 2 clinical trials in March of 2004."
