Charles Casamento has resigned as president and chiefexecutive officer of Interneuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. toassume the responsibilities of running a newly refocusedprivate biotech company, RiboGene Inc. of Hayward, Calif.

Casamento will be chairman of the board, president and chiefexecutive officer of RiboGene, which is focused on harnessingthe basic intracellular biosynthetic process of making proteins(translation) to create new therapeutics for viral diseases andcancer.

RiboGene was originally a bio-instrumentation companydeveloping instrumentation for cell-free protein synthesis. Thecompany refocused its energies to "use the models and screensit had (for cell-free protein synthesis) to develop newpharmaceutical products that target the translational process,"Casamento told BioWorld.

Interneuron's (NASDAQ:IPIC) new president and chiefexecutive officer is Glenn Cooper, who will also retain his postsas president and chief executive officer of Interneuron'smajority-owned subsidiary Progenitor, also of Lexington, Mass.

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