Warner-Lambert CEO Goodes to Retire

Warner-Lambert Co. said its chief executive and chairman, Melvin Goodes, will retire May 1. Goodes, 63, will be succeeded by Lodewijk de Vink, 53, Warner’s president and chief operating officer. The two executives changed Warner-Lambert into one of the most successful U.S. drug makers, defying predictions that it might shed its pharmaceutical business after a federal crackdown on its manufacturing practices in the early 1990s. Under Goodes, who became chief executive in 1991, the market capitalization of Warner-Lambert has risen to almost $60 billion from about $9 billion. Goodes joined the company in 1965. Shares of Warner-Lambert, based in Morris Plains, N.J., rose $1.13 to close at $73.50 on the NYSE.