Consultant Is Named to Head Ropak Labs

Ropak Laboratories, which makes test kits used to determine if certain pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and household chemicals will irritate eye tissues, said Monday that it has appointed William J. Fisher president and chief operating officer.

Fisher, who had been a consultant to Ropak Laboratories, succeeds Dr. Christopher Kelly, who remains as the company’s chairman and chief executive.

Fisher specializes in start-up and turnaround management through his consulting firm, William Fisher & Co., in Newport Beach. He was previously president of American Diagnostic Corp., a biotechnology research company Kelly founded and sold to Hoffman-La Roche Inc. in 1984.

Ropak Laboratories, which began to trade its stock publicly in May, reported losses of $1.6 million during the first six months of its 1991 fiscal year.