GLAXO's NEW PRESIDENT IS FORMER SQUIBB EXEC ERNEST MARIO, PhD

GLAXO's NEW PRESIDENT IS FORMER SQUIBB EXEC ERNEST MARIO, PhD, who will also serve in the newly created position of chief operating officer of the British pharmaceutical firm's U.S. subsidiary. "Dr. Mario takes over duties formerly exercised" by former president Joseph Ruvane, Glaxo reported in a Sept. 2 release. Ruvane, however, retains the top spot at the U.S. subsidiary and will continue to hold the title of chief executive officer. Mario, 48, joined Squibb as a VP-manufacturing, U.S. Pharmaceutical division in 1977 and eventually became group VP of the Squibb Corporation, a member of its board and president and chief exec of the Squibb Medical Products Group. "He was largely credited with engineering the return to profitability of Squibb's Seattle-based medical electronics business," the release states. Mario's experience with pharmaceuticals, however, will be more important in his new job at Glaxo; the company does not have a medical products business in the U.S. Prior to his stint with Squibb, Mario served as VP of manufacturing operations for SmithKline. A former NIH research fellow, Mario received his bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Rutgers and his master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Rhode Island. In July, Squibb announced its intention to spinoff three of its medical products businesses -- Advanced Technology Labs, Spacelabs and its overseas ultrasound distribution operations -- into a new company, Westmark International, headed by former Squibb President Dennis Fill. Last week, Squibb consolidated the remaining three medical products units with its pharmaceutical operations under new exec VP Jan Leschly. Ruvane, 61, was recently elected to the board of Glaxo's British parent, Glaxo Holdings Ltd., and given responsibility for Glaxo Argentina and Glaxo Latin America. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1985, Glaxo reported sales of $356 mil. Sales have grown steadily in 1986, largely through the success of the company's antiulcer product, Zantac.