PharmaPrint Names New President/CEO

By Greg Hernandez

Sept. 15, 1999 12 AM PT

PharmaPrint Inc., an Irvine company that develops natural medicines and dietary supplements from plant extracts, announced Tuesday that C. Richard Piazza will become president and chief executive officer effective Oct. 1.

Piazza will head a company that has lost more than $45 million over the last four years, but generated revenue for the first time last year and has high hopes on a patent application.

The patent covers technology that allows ingredients from natural plant extracts to be identified precisely and replicated consistently.

Last year, the company generated $22.3 million in revenue as the exclusive manufacturer of Centrum Herbals, a line of natural vitamins, for American Home Products Corp.

Piazza, 52, succeeds Elliot Friedman as CEO. Friedman will remain as the company’s full-time chairman and focus on developing strategic relationships.

Piazza was most recently chief executive of VitaGen Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in combating liver disease.

PharmaPrint’s stock rose 19 cents to close at $5.19 a share Tuesday in Nasdaq trading.