Smooth transition

Roche says that Severin Schwan, a 40-year-old Austrian lawyer who currently runs its diagnostics division, will succeed Franz Humer as chief executive next March. Humer will stay on as chairman of the Swiss drug company, which has enjoyed an unparalleled run of success since he arrived from GlaxoSmithKline to take over as chief executive 12 years ago. Although some recent changes of senior personnel in the pharmaceuticals industry have been forced, Roche is making this one on a high: it just announced sales up 15% to SFr 23 billion (US$ 19 billion), and profits up 29%, to SFr 5.9 billion, for the first half of this year.

Preparing for take-off

NASA awarded Rocketdyne — a Californian subsidiary of aeroengine maker Pratt & Whitney — a US$1.2-billion contract to supply the upper-stage engine of the space shuttle's replacement. The company's engine, known as the J-2X, will propel a crew of six through the final stage of the rocket's assent. It runs on liquid hydrogen and oxygen and bears a strong resemblance to the Apollo-era engines that took the first astronauts to the Moon. The contract covers design, development and testing. A separate contract for future engines will be awarded after the first test flight in 2012.

Northern drive

A £12-million (US$25-million) National Industrial Biotechnology Facility opened in the north of England, with the intention of making it easier for companies there to manufacture enzymes for use in industrial processes. The facility officially opened on 16 July at the Centre for Process Innovation at Wilton, Teeside — a traditional centre of the British chemical industry. It is supported by local development agencies, who hope that it will boost biotechnology innovation in the surrounding area, and will operate in partnership with the Manchester-based Centre of Excellence in Biocatalysis, Biotransformations and Biocatalytic Manufacturing.