Dr von Bohlen has been at the helm of LION since its formation in 1997, and latterly oversaw the firm's exit from the in-house drug discovery business to become a bioinformatics pure-play focusing on the integration of biological data.
The process has been painful, involving the loss of more than 60 per cent of its staff by the end of the fiscal year in March 2004, but was an essential move to undertake to ensure the company's survival as it builds up a customer base for its SRS and LION DiscoveryCentre (LDC) products.
A biochemist and neurobiologist by training, Dr von Bohlen tendered his resignation because he believed that the company now needs leadership from someone better versed in the information technology sector. However, he is likely to be elected to the company's supervisory board at the next shareholders meeting in August 2004.
LION will be led by Martin Hollenhorst, chief financial officer, and Dr Daniel Keesman, chief business officer, who will take over the current responsibilities of Dr von Bohlen effective 1 January, 2004.