Immunex Corp. announced Friday that it has named EdwardFritzky, president of Lederle Laboratories, as its chairman andchief executive officer.

Fritzky succeeds Steven Gillis, who has been acting CEO sincelast September. Gillis took the helm until the board found apermanent replacement for Stephen Duzan, who co-foundedImmunex (NASDAQ:IMNX) of Seattle and for 12 years was thecompany's chairman and CEO. Duzan stepped down followingImmunex's merger with American Cyanamid Co.'s Lederleoncology business, which became effective last June 1.

Gillis, also a co-founder of Immunex, will resume his previouspost as executive vice president of Immunex and president andchief executive officer of the company's research anddevelopment subsidiary, Immunex Research and DevelopmentCorp.

Fritzky joined Lederle Labs as vice president in 1989; hebecame president in 1992. Prior to his tenure at Lederle,Fritzky spent 16 years at Searle Pharmaceuticals Inc. His lastposition at Searle was president and general manager of SearleCanada Inc. and Lorex Pharmaceuticals of Canada Ltd., a jointventure. -- Brenda Sandburg

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