Mr John Groom (61) will retire as president and chief operations officer of Elan on June 30th. Mr Groom, who joined Elan in 1996 from Athena Neurosciences, will continue to serve as a director of the international biotechnology company. He played a key role in integrating the merger of Elan and Athena. Elan's chairman and chief executive officer, Mr Donal Geaney, said yesterday his depth of managerial experience and knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry would be missed.