Denis Burger, who spent the past decade running the company, has left today. He’s also resigned from the board. Jack Bowman, an independent director, is now chairman and K. Michael Forrest, another independent director, becomes interim ceo while a search begins.

There was no reason given for the sudden departure. In a statement, Burger said “on a personal note, I look forward to having more time to spend with family and friends during retirement.”

The rest of the statement was devoted to reciting a laundry list of the credentials held by the others. Bowman was s company group chairman with Johnson & Johnson, and was ceo and chairman of NeoRx, another biotech. He’s also on Celegene’s board. Forrest was ceo and a director at Cellegy Pharmaceuticals from 1996 to 2005, and ceo of two other biotechs, Mercator Genetics and Transkaryotic Therapies. He’s also a director at INEX Pharmaceuticals.

Source: The Associated Press[tags]AVI BioPharma[/tags]