Pfizer Says Goodman Resigns as Head of Biotech Center (Update2)

April 27 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc. said that Corey Goodman, a senior vice president hired 19 months ago to lead Pfizer’s biotechnology center in California, has resigned.

Pfizer gave no reason for Goodman’s departure in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today. Goodman held the title of president of Pfizer’s Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Center in South San Francisco, California. His resignation is effective May 31.

Goodman’s hiring in October, 2007, was part of an effort by New York-based Pfizer to expand its push into biotechnology products. Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, is working to revive sales with new medicines to replace those facing generic competition.

Goodman is a neuroscientist who has taught at Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, San Francisco. He also co-founded Exelixis Inc., a developer of cancer treatments, and Renovis Inc., a developer of drugs for neurological conditions that was sold in 2007 to Evotec AG for $152 million in stock.

“We thank Dr. Goodman for his important contributions in developing and advancing Pfizer’s biologics strategy and for his leadership in creating the innovative model” for the company’s center, said Ray Kerins, a Pfizer spokesman, today in an e- mailed statement.

Wyeth Unit

Pfizer said April 7 that it was creating a biotechnology division that would include Goodman’s unit and the biotechnology research arm of Wyeth, the Madison, N.J., company that Pfizer is acquiring for $63 billion. Mikael Dolsten, now president of Wyeth research, was named to lead the biotechnology division. Goodman had reported directly to Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Kindler.

Goodman declined in a telephone interview to comment on his reasons for leaving Pfizer. The California-based biotherapeutics center “is thriving and the scientists have done an outstanding job,” he said. “I think it is poised for future success.”

Pfizer said it waived repayment of $1.7 million in “replacement cash compensation” the company was due if Goodman left Pfizer before completing two years of employment, according to Pfizer’s U.S. regulatory filing. Goodman received a base salary of $725,000 plus a performance-based bonus of up to $798,000 annually, according to the filing.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Olmos in San Francisco at dolmos@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at Rgale5@bloomberg.net.