<Page>
                                                                   Exhibit 10.1
                              EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

                                     between

                   Maxim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (German Branch)

                                    - hereinafter referred to as the "COMPANY" -
                                                                      -------

                                       and

                            Mr. Karl-Hermann Bremeyer

                 - hereinafter referred to as "MR. BREMEYER" or the "EMPLOYEE" -
                                               ------------          --------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.       COMMENCEMENT OF EMPLOYMENT

1.1      The employment will commence with effect from July 1, 2001.

1.2      Upon commencement, the consultancy agreement between the Company and
         the Employee dated March 1, 2001 shall terminate. The Company shall not
         retain any liabilities thereunder other than the payment of the agreed
         consultancy fee through June 30, 2001 and the Employee will not assert
         any claims except for such payment.

2.       DUTIES

2.1      Mr. Bremeyer shall be employed in the position of Managing Director,
         Europe. He will be head of the Company's German branch and as such be
         responsible for its proper conduct of business.

2.2      Mr. Bremeyer's scope of activity and responsibility shall principally
         comprise the following duties:

         -        providing a European Community (EC) entity to serve as a basis
                  for filing for regulatory approval in certain EC countries,


<Page>
                                      -2-



         -        determining the best procedure for obtaining approval of
                  Ceplene and other products by the European Medical Evaluation
                  Authority (EMEA),

         -        obtaining EMEA approval,

         -        determining a strategy regarding complementary drugs such
                  as IL-2,

         -        meeting all EC regulatory requirements,

         -        creating the distribution model for the EC,

         -        establishing marketing and other corporate partners.

2.3      Mr. Bremeyer is directly reporting to the CEO of Maxim Pharmaceuticals,
         Inc.

2.4      The Company reserves the right to assign other or additional duties to
         Mr. Bremeyer without additional compensation insofar as they are
         commensurate with his knowledge and abilities.

3.       PLACE OF WORK

3.1      Mr. Bremeyer's general place of work will be mainly in Germany.

3.2      For the performance of his duties hereunder, Mr. Bremeyer may be
         required to travel both within and outside of Germany.

3.3      The Company reserves the right to transfer Mr. Bremeyer to another
         place of work, insofar as such transfer can reasonably be expected from
         Mr. Bremeyer and takes reasonable account of his personal interests.

4.       HOURS OF WORK

4.1      Mr. Bremeyer's standard hours of work will be 40 hours per week.

4.2      To the extent permitted by law, Mr. Bremeyer will work overtime if this
         is required in order to appropriately and timely fulfill the duties
         hereunder. Any overtime will not be additionally compensated.

<Page>
                                      -3-



5.       REMUNERATION

5.1      As compensation for the services to be provided under this Agreement,
         Mr. Bremeyer will receive a gross basic salary of DM 580,000.00 (in
         words Deutschmarks five hundred and eighty thousand) p.a. This salary
         will be paid in equal monthly instalments at the end of each calendar
         month.

5.2      Mr. Bremeyer's salary shall be paid by remittance to the bank account
         specified by him from time to time.

5.3      The Company will review the salary annually, taking into account Mr.
         Bremeyer's personal performance as well as the general development of
         cost of living expenses. There is no obligation for a salary increase
         as a consequence of such review and any increase is discretionary.

5.4      The Company takes over the contributions to the social security
         institutions as required by law. In the event that Mr. Bremeyer carries
         private health insurance, the Company will pay 50% of the average legal
         contributions to the mandatory public health insurance scheme.

6.       BONUS

6.1      The Company shall determine annually the value of any bonus and whether
         one is to be paid at all. Such bonus shall reward previous and future
         loyalty to the Company and Mr. Bremeyer's performance during the course
         of the previous year. Any bonus payment will be at the Company's
         absolute discretion. No right to payment of a bonus shall arise merely
         by virtue of Mr. Bremeyer having received a bonus in the past.

6.2      The level of any bonus shall not exceed 20% of the annual salary as
         set out in clause 5.1 above.

6.3      In any case, a bonus payment shall only be made if no notice of
         termination has been given on or before November 1 and no agreement to
         terminate has been entered into by that date.

<Page>
                                      -4-


6.4      A bonus shall be determined and notified in November each year and
         shall be paid together with the salary for December.

7.       INVENTIONS

Notwithstanding mandatory provisions of German law under the Employee Inventions
Act (Arbeitnehmererfindungsgesetz), Mr. Bremeyer hereby agrees to Maxim's
Standard Employee Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreement which is
attached hereto and constitutes an inseparable part of this Employment
Agreement.

8.       EXPENSES

8.1      Business expenses, in particular expenses for business travel, will be
         reimbursed in accordance with the maximum rates acknowledged under
         German law.

8.2      Mr. Bremeyer will use his private car for business travel. He will be
         reimbursed at the rate of 1.20 DM/km.

9.       ASSIGNMENT AND PLEDGE OF CLAIMS

         The assignment and/or pledge of any claims arising from the employment
         relationship is prohibited and of no effect with regard to the Company
         unless the Company has given its prior written consent to such
         assignment or pledge.

10.      HOLIDAYS

10.1     Mr. Bremeyer shall be entitled to 30 working days' paid holiday per
         calendar year. Working days are Monday through Friday.

10.2     Holidays shall be taken upon coordination with the Company's management
         and in due consideration of current business needs.

10.3     Holidays shall be taken during the calendar year of entitlement. With
         the written consent of the management of the Company, it may be
         extended to March 31 of the following year.


<Page>
                                      -5-

11.      ABSENCE FROM WORK

11.1     Whenever Mr. Bremeyer is unable to attend work, for whatever reason, he
         shall inform the Company without delay and at the latest on the first
         morning of absence of the reasons for and the likely duration of his
         absence, and additionally shall let the Company know of any urgent work
         matters needing to be addressed.

11.2     If, in the case of illness, Mr. Bremeyer is unable to attend work for
         more than three calendar days, he shall produce, no later than on the
         first working day following this three-day period, a medical
         certificate confirming such inability. The Company shall be entitled to
         require Mr. Bremeyer to produce such certificate at an earlier date. If
         Mr. Bremeyer is unable to attend work for a longer period than that set
         out in this certificate, he shall produce a new certificate no later
         than the first working day after the previous certificate ceases to be
         valid.

12.      OTHER EMPLOYMENT AND PUBLICATIONS

12.1     Any other business related activity or employment, whether paid or
         unpaid, requires the prior written consent of the Company.

12.2     Publications or lectures on matters connected with or relating to Mr.
         Bremeyer's activities for the Company require the Company's prior
         written consent. Mr. Bremeyer will not disclose his affiliation to the
         Company in the case of any publications or lectures without prior
         approval by the Company.

12.3     The obligation to confidentiality as set out under clause 13 below
         remains unaffected by this provision.


<Page>
                                      -6-

13.      CONFIDENTIALITY

13.1     Mr. Bremeyer shall not disclose any trade or business secrets of the
         Company or affiliated companies and shall not disclose any defined or
         definable facts which may be reasonably deemed confidential by the
         Company or affiliated companies. To the extent such information falls
         within his sphere of work, Mr. Bremeyer shall ensure that third persons
         do not obtain unauthorized access to it.

13.2     The duties set out in clause 13.1 above shall continue to exist beyond
         the end of the employment relationship unless it functions as a
         post-contractual prohibition against competition within the meaning of
         Sections 74 et seq. German Commercial Code (HGB).

13.3     The Company will exempt Mr. Bremeyer from the duties defined under
         clauses 13.1 and 13.2 above if and insofar as Mr. Bremeyer is obliged
         by law to disclose information subject to these duties of
         confidentiality or if and as far as Mr. Bremeyer's justified interests
         to be exempt from such duty decisively outweigh the Company's justified
         interests to keep the information confidential.

14.      TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT

14.1     The employment relationship can be terminated by either party with a
         notice period of six months ending at the end of a calendar month. Any
         extension of the notice period on the basis of statutory provisions
         applies likewise to both parties.

14.2     After notice of termination has been given by either party, the Company
         shall be entitled to release Mr. Bremeyer from work from that point on
         until the end of the notice period, provided that the Company continues
         to pay his contractual salary. Unclaimed holiday entitlements shall
         thereby be compensated.

14.3     The employment relationship shall end without the need for notice of
         termination no later than at the end of the month in which Mr. Bremeyer
         reaches the age of 65.

14.4     Upon request of the Company and, in any event, on the final work day
         before the legally effective end of the employment relationship, Mr.
         Bremeyer shall return to the Company, in accordance with its
         instructions, all property belonging to the Com-

<Page>
                                      -7-



         pany or any affiliated company as well as all work and business
         documents which can still be used, including electronic data and any
         notes and copies thereof made. This applies in particular if Mr.
         Bremeyer is released from work within the meaning of clause 14.2 above.
         This does not apply to property which Mr. Bremeyer received with the
         express permission to also use it for private purposes. A right of
         retention shall not exist.

15.      OTHER AGREEMENTS

15.1     This Agreement shall replace all verbal or written agreements
         previously concluded between the parties in respect of its subject
         matter.

15.2     The stock option agreement dated March 1, 2001 between the Company and
         Mr. Bremeyer shall remain unaffected.

16.      MISCELLANEOUS

16.1     Any side agreements and amendments of this Agreement require written
         form to be valid. This applies also to an amendment to this clause on
         the requirement of written form.

16.2     In the event that individual provisions of this Agreement should be
         invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions of this Agreement
         shall not be affected thereby.

16.3     The parties shall endeavour to replace any invalid provision of this
         Agreement by such valid provision which as closely as possible achieves
         the purposes originally intended.

San Diego, California, June 30, 2001

/s/ Larry G. Stambaugh                      /s/ Karl-Hermann Bremeyer
------------------------------------        ------------------------------------
Larry G. Stambaugh                          Karl-Hermann Bremeyer
Chief Executive Officer
Maxim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.