be reapproved by the government for sale in the

U. S. and steal some of aspartame's lucrative

soft-drink business. And nagging questions
about aspartame's safety are a constant worry.
Notes Robert W. Kirkpatrick, an analyst for
Duff & Phelps Inc.: "You have to wonder
whether some new study is going to make the
Food & Drug Administration more cautious"
about aspartame. ' POLITICAL AMBITIONS. The
, y low and sell high. That simple
family undoubtedly will receive a premium be-
~xiom appears to be the driving force
cause of aspartame's c~rrent bullish prospects.
behind the Searle family's
And by selling out at the height of the
decision to cash
sweetener's in theirthe
popularity, 34'1<·
familyinterest
may in
G. D. Searle & Co., the
command a better price for its lackluster Skokie (Ill.) core
phar-
maceutic'al andbusiness
pharmaceutical consumer thanproducts
it would companyotherwise
founded
get. by their great-greatgrandfather
To rejuvenate Searle's maturing prescription nearly
a century
drug line, ago.
Rumsfeld has poured more than $500
The Searles'
million into R&LJ, desire
built to diversify
a $2;') million their
research
holdings,
center, and probably by sellingand
struck licensing thejoint-venture
compa.ny,
comes
agreementson thewith heelsforeign
of a major corporateAs a
drugmakers.·
restructuring
result, Searleand hasthe explosive
three new drug success of the at
applications
company's
the Ffl.-\ andaspartame
11 products sVieetener,
in clinical which
trial. But the
together
drugmaker have haslifted
yet to sales
logtoany $946 million
profits fromand its
boosted the current market
heavy development spending. value ]n of the family's
fact,
stock to $978from
competition million, fromand
generic $212 newmillion
drugs se\'en
and the
years
effectago.of the Somestronganalysts
dollarbelieve Searle shares,
on its overseas opera-
which
tions cutrecently
Searle's solq at S58. could
prescription drug fetch as much
operating
as $75 from
earnings a chemical
in half last year, or to pharmaceutical
$95.8 million.
company suitor. That
A recovery in the drug price tag would
operations put themay
acquisition
already be cost at $3.7
in the billion-the
making, largestSearle's
however.
nonoil merger inearnings
second-quarter history. Ui\lCOPlJFO~ii'Arsl~.
more than doubled, to
The
:338.4 Searles have timed
million, partlytheir sale carefully.
because of higher "]
think the famil~' sales.
pharmaceutical had decided But neither to do this thelong Searle
ago,"
familysa~'s nor James
Rumsfeld R. Phelps,
is likely formerly the com-to
to be around
pany's
see how
Searle's
general counsel.
it all turns
disastrous
out.One Rumsfeld, ,vii"
reason couldadmits be
to having politicalperformance
ambitions, iswhen rumored it was to be
under
a possibledirect family
successor management.
to Secretary At theof State
instigation
George Shultz of then-chief in executi\'e
a second DanielReaganC.
Searle,
UNDER thePRESIDENT
Administration. company [g]
\\'ent on a SALES
RUMSFELD. di\'ersification
OF
bingeNUTRASWEET
with un- ROCKETED TO $336 MILLION
I profitable results. Says a former insider: ,.]
sweeteners, such as Hoechst's acesulfame, as
don't
well think
as those theunderSearles were ever
development by real I~' &
Procter
comfortable
Gamble Co. managing
and Pfizer theInc. business."
To Many
turn things industryaround, the family
watchers in 1977that
believe
recruited
currently formerbanned Defense Secretary Donald
cyclamates-which H. a
sell for
Rumsfeld as president.
fraction of aspartame's cost-eould While Rumsfeld's
massive pruning of operations and staff have
improved earnings dllamatically and revitalized
Searle's pharmaceutical research and develop-
Illent effort, the company's fortunes now ride
most heavilJ.',..on its aspartame sweetener,
marketed bnder the brand name N utraSweet.
After only two years on the market, sales of the
noncaloric sweetening agent rocketed to $336
million and are expected to reach $1 billion CiS DEE·
next year. "Right now, it's the peak of the
market," says David Saks, an independent
health "The careester
acquisition E. of
securities Coleman,
Agrigenetics
researcher. the is soft-spoken
"There likeisa 10-
no
year jump
competition, chemist
fortheus,"who isis chairman
says Coleman.Indeed,
price hig-h, demand of the Lubrizol
is
purchaseCorp.,
incredible-if capseverareadily
seriesof
therevolunteers
moves
was aimed
that atmarket,
a seller's
exploiting
this the $800biotechnology
is it." to develop plant
million specialty-chemical maker is a
varieties that can
conservative
By selling out provide
now, thea But
outfit. major
Searles new
the cansource of
lowprofile
collect
raw
on materials
producer
aspartame's of for
oil the chemical
additives
dazzling company.
is not
potential-yet holdingavoid Lubri-
back
the as
zol's
risks first
farof foray
ashaving into
biotechnology
to biotechnology
fulfill it.isThe concerned.was the
company's Over
newthe
purchase
owner, five
past however,
few years
years it ago
could has ofquietly
face athreats
25%bought
share
fromin stakes in
other
Genentech Inc., but sincestartups.
several biotechnology then it has Now narrowed
it is taking
itsasights
majortoplungeplant biotechnology
with the $50 with million the purchase
goal of
developing
of debt-ridden new types of plant oils.
Agrigenetics "Weasee
Corp., this
Boulder
whole(Colo.) as a sourcethat
area company of specialty
specializes chemicals,in using
at biotechnology
the same time having to improve a base of
crops.