* John E. Mack III has resigned...
* John E. Mack III has resigned as chief executive of Protection One, the Culver City-based home-security company that has been losing money. The company said it does not plan to name a replacement and did not say which executive would assume his duties. No reason was give for Mack’s departure other than his desire to “pursue other business interests.” He will remain a member of the board.
Shares of Protection One, which is 85% controlled by Kansas-based utility Western Resources Inc., have lost about 70% of their value in the last year. Western Resources was forced to restate 1997 and 1998 earnings because regulators ordered changes in income reported by Protection One. Shares fell 25 cents to close at $1.81 on the NYSE.
* Biotechnology giant Amgen Inc. has named Dennis Fenton as its first executive vice president, with responsibility for heading research, quality control and operations. In the research area, Fenton succeeds Lawrence Souza, who is retiring. Souza played a major role in developing the Thousand Oaks-based company’s blockbuster drug Neupogen, which boosts the production of white blood cells.
