Gen-Probe Chairman Resigns

Gen-Probe chairman and co-founder Thomas Adams has resigned to become chief executive of Genta, a newly formed company that hopes to develop therapeutic drugs for the treatment or prevention of acquired immune deficiency syndrome and cancer, the companies said Monday.

Adams will remain on Gen-Probe’s board, but the San Diego-based biomedical company will not name a new chairman, according to Thomas Bologna, who joined Gen-Probe as president in 1987. “I’ve been operating the company on a day-to-day basis as president and chief executive, and (Gen-Probe’s board) decided that we didn’t need to fill” the vacancy created by Adams’ departure, Bologna said.

Gen-Probe will retain exclusive rights to market Genta’s products in North America, Western Europe, Japan and certain other countries, Bologna said. Gen-Probe decided not to pursue development of the new therapeutic products internally because “we felt it was important that we retain our focus on diagnostics,” Bologna said.

Gen-Probe, which made a $1-million investment in Genta, will own 10% of the closely held, San Diego-based company. Domain Associates, a biotechnology venture capital firm, has invested $800,000 in Genta.

Genta will use proprietary Gen-Probe technology as well as a technology being developed by a pair of Johns Hopkins University researchers.

Gen-Probe reported a $6.9-million net loss for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, against a $2-million loss during the like period the year before. Revenue rose to $3.9 million for the nine-month period, up from $3.1 million the year before.

Adams was one of several Gen-Probe officers to leave in recent months.