BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM CORP. INTERIM PRESIDENT IS WERNER GERSTENBERG,

BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM CORP. INTERIM PRESIDENT IS WERNER GERSTENBERG, who is overseeing day-to-day operations while the firm searches for a permanent replacement for former President and CEO Digby Barrios, who left on June 22, the company said. Gerstenberg, who is corporate exec VP and chief financial officer, took over the topside position after the abrupt departure of Barrios. Senior VP James Ueberroth also departed the firm on June 22. Boehringer Ingelheim's terse announcement of the changes said only that Barrios left the firm for "philosophical reasons" about the company's "strategic direction." The firm offered no explanation for Ueberroth's departure. The sudden management upheaval comes after one of the senior executive officers recently accepted an elected position with one of the major trade associations in the drug industry. Boehringer Ingelheim has "initiated immediate steps to select a successor," the company said, but is not using an executive search firm to locate a replacement. Concerning his departure, Barrios said that he and the company are negotiating a settlement. Ueberroth was unavailable for comment. Barrios, a former Squibb group VP, joined Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals in 1983 as an exec VP. In 1988, he succeeded Harvey Sadow as B-I Corp. president and CEO ("The Pink Sheet" March 21, 1988, T&G-6). Gerstenberg, a native of Germany, also joined Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals in 1983 as a senior VP. He was initially employed by Boehringer Ingelheim in Germany in 1968.