Ebb & Flow

Talent continues to slip out of Immunex since its takeover by Amgen (AMGN) earlier this year. Ken Mohler, Immunex's former vice president for biology, last week secured $13.6 million in venture financing for GeneCraft, a developer of immunotherapeutics for cancer and inflammatory disorders that he helped start up with two other entrepreneurs. Other co-founders include CEO Peter Thompson, former vice president and general manager of Chiron Informatics; and Jeff Ledbetter, a principal investigator at Pacific Northwest Research Institute (PNRI). Mohler serves as senior vice president of R&D.

Venture capitalists and other industry watchers were anticipating some brain-drain when AMGN proposed the acquisition in December.At that time, however, VCs noted that AMGN was doing a good job in nailing down the top brass at Immunex (see BioCentury, Jan. 28). But cracks began to appear when Douglas Williams - Immunex's highly regarded chief technology officer - resigned as AMGN's senior vice president of basic research...