Research develops a formula for success.

• Position: Pharmaceuticals industry - Industry Overview

Richard Franco was general manager of a Glaxo marketing division when he decided to go it alone in 1994. Well, not quite alone. Franco left the British-owned drug giant in June and by early August was president and CEO of Durham-based Trimeris Inc. Since its start in 1993, the 34-employee company has worked with two Duke professors to develop anti-viral products. This October Trimeris got its first patent, for an AIDS drug called Pentafuside.

Franco, now a part-owner of privately held Trimeris, jumped ship before Glaxo's buyout of Wellcome PLC in 1995. Both companies had U.S. headquarters in RTP. He says he left Glaxo because he wanted to run his own business. But his timely move must look pretty good in hindsight to Wellcome employees who were laid off or left out during consolidation. Their combined U.S. work force of 11,000 was trimmed to 8,765 by October. In North Carolina, employment dropped from 7,600 to 5,865.

Glaxo Wellcome's downsizing could yield a healthy crop of entrepreneurs. David Barry, for example, was worldwide director of research and development for Wellcome PLC. Now he heads Triangle Pharmaceuticals. Barry, who left Glaxo in June, was one of five co-creators of the AIDS drug AZT. He took two of them with him to start 12-employee Triangle.

North Carolina and especially RTP have always been favorites for pharmaceutical start-ups. As the industry continues to consolidate, smaller companies will experience an influx of dislocated executives. Eli Lilly's acquisition of Durham-based Sphinx Pharmaceuticals in 1994 led to Clayton Duncan, Sphinx's former president, leaving to run eight-employee Intercardia, a Durham-based heart-and-lung drug subsidiary of Boston-based Interneuron Pharmaceuticals.

Neil Moore, manager of business services for the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, says these "recycled entrepreneurs" have a better chance of success than first-time inventors. "They've learned a lot from their experiences, and now they're doing it again."

Many smaller companies, however, lack the $50 million or so necessary to build a plant. Another option opened up when Corning subsidiary Corning Bio elected to build its plant and offices in RTP. When the $57 million building opens in late 1996, it will house nearly 110,000 square feet dedicated to contract biotechnology. Smaller companies can get drugs manufactured there for late-stage testing. "That solves a major dilemma for many companies," says Christine Sneed, public-affairs...