BRISTOL-MYERS OTC BUSINESS TO BE HEADED BY FORMER GLENBROOK EXEC GACCIONE

BRISTOL-MYERS OTC BUSINESS TO BE HEADED BY FORMER GLENBROOK EXEC GACCIONE, who was president and general manager of Sterling Drug's domestic OTC products business. Bristol-Myers Squibb announced Feb. 4 that Richard Gaccione, 44, has joined BMS as president of the Bristol-Myers Products division. He will also be responsible for assisting in the creation of a global OTC products strategy, BMS said. Sterling said it has not yet named a successor at Glenbrook. Gaccione's departure is the latest exit by a top Sterling exec since the drug firm's acquisition by Kodak in 1988. The recently announced letter-of-intent joint venture agreement with Sanofi has further complicated the management situation at Sterling. Gaccione's appointment was one of three changes in the consumer products business announced by BMS. Gaccione's predecessor, Stephen Bear, was promoted to the new post of senior VP-strategic planning at Bristol-Myers Squibb Consumer Products Group, of which Gaccione's division is a part. The president of the group, Marvin Koslow, is taking on additional global oversight. In an internal bulletin, the company described the appointments as part of the ongoing globalization of the Bristol- Myers and Squibb consumer products businesses. "Our ability to accelerate growth in many markets will be enhanced by bringing our international and domestic divisions closer together," the company said. Gaccione was named president of Glenbrook Labs and general manager in July 1989 ("The Pink Sheet" July 3, 1989, T&G-7). He previously had been president of Sterling's Lehn & Fink Consumer Products Division. Gaccione joined Sterling in 1985 from Unilever, USA, where he had served as VP-marketing. He also had product management stints at General Foods and Colgate-Palmolive. Bear has been with Bristol-Myers since 1985, when he joined from Rich-Vicks as senior VP-marketing and sales. He succeeded Ronald Ahrens as president of the Bristol-Myers Products division in February 1988, when Ahrens was named president of the Consumer Products Group, North America. Koslow was named to succeed Ahrens upon his retirement in June 1990 ("The Pink Sheet" June 18, 1990, T&G-6) as president of the Bristol-Myers North American consumer products group, which includes the Clairol, Bristol-Myers Products and Drackett Company products. Koslow, a 25-year veteran of Bristol-Myers, was previously responsible for developing corporate advertising, market research and media buying. He also headed Bristol-Myers' corporate communications and issues management departments. Koslow is adding oversight of the consumer businesses in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia in addition to the U.S. and Canada. The group includes BMS Consumer International as well as Clairol, Bristol-Myers Products and Drackett. Reporting to Koslow will be Richard Malyan, the president of Consumer International. That business was reorganized during 1990 and took a major step into the European market with the acquisition of a significant minority interest in the privately held French effervescent OTC firm UPSA Group ("The Pink Sheet," Sept. 3, T&G-9). The UPSA acquisition was completed at the end of 1990 for an undisclosed amount of cash.