Digene Corp. / DIGE

About Digene Corp.

1201 Clopper Rd., Gaithersburg, Md. 20878
www.digene.com | 301-944-7000 | Founded: 1987

Industry: Biotechnology | Category: Public Companies

Last year was momentous for Digene, one of the few profitable life sciences companies in Montgomery County's flourishing technology corridor. Revenue for its main product, a test for a virus that causes cervical cancer, jumped 38 percent, to $134.4 million. More women have been seeking out the test following Digene's heavy advertising efforts and headlines generated by FDA approval of the first vaccine against the human papillomavirus, or HPV. The vaccine is made by Merck.
Perhaps more noteworthy was Digene's change in leadership. Evan Jones, the company's chief executive, and Charles M. Fleischman, the president, both left the firm. The two college buddies rescued Digene more than a decade ago when its scientist founders were running out of money. Jones retired, saying the company now needed skills he didn't offer — merger and acquisition experience and familiarity with international markets.
Fleischman announced he was leaving a short time later after he was passed up for the top spot.
Late last year, Digene's board replaced both men with one: Daryl J. Faulkner. A former executive of Invitrogen, a California company that makes drug research tools, Faulkner had never been president or chief executive of a public company before Digene hired him. At Invitrogen, he was in charge of licensing products and buying other companies. He faces several challenges, most notably dealing with Digene's lack of a meaningful product pipeline and possible entry into the HPV testing market by diagnostics giant Roche.

President and CEO: Daryl J. Faulkner

2006 Financial Data

Revenues: $152,888,000 | Net Income: $8,439,000
Asssets: $231,886,000 | Earnings Per Share: $0.38
Total employees: 491 | Local employees: 304