Genentech's No. 2 R&D exec--Marc Tessier-Lavigne--is leaving his post to take the helm at Rockefeller University, home to some of the world's premier biomedical researchers. Tessier-Lavigne's move to become the first person from the biopharma industry to be named president of Rockefeller--a prestigious position by any standard--inevitably triggered fresh questions from the New York Times' Andrew Pollack about the brain drain from Genentech in the wake of the Roche takeover. But Tessier-Lavigne says he wasn't fleeing Roche management. "Of the top leadership in research, I'm the first person to leave and it has nothing to do with the merger," he tells the Times. "I wasn't looking to move away. In fact, this is probably the only job that could have lured me away from Genentech." Rockefeller release | Story