GSK appoints Emma Walmsley as new chief

GLAXOSMITHKLINE (GSK) promoted Emma Walmsley to be its new chief executive and succeed Andrew Witty when he retires, singling out the UK’s largest drugmaker as the only major global pharmaceutical company to be led by a woman.

Walmsley would join the board on January 1 and take the helm on March 31, GSK said yesterday. The Oxford graduate, whose background is in marketing, will pilot cutting-edge treatments for cancer and diseases through clinical tests and on to pharmacies to boost earnings and revive shares. Chairman Phil Hampton had said he was seeking outside as well as inside for a new leader.

“I think it’s… better to have somebody who’s more familiar with GSK, from working on the inside, rather than an external candidate,” said Stephen Bailey, a fund manager at Liontrust Investment Partners. “I would assume in the long term the likelihood is that the consumer division is split away.”

Walmsley joined GSK in 2010 from L’Oreal where she spent 17 years, holding marketing and general management roles in China and the US. At GSK, Walmsley joined the over-thecounter products business, first as president and then as chief executive last year.

GSK’s shares fell 0.5 percent to £16.37 (R300.58) at 9.46am in London trading. The stock climbed about 40 percent during Witty’s tenure at the helm. That was in line with Novartis’s performance, though it lagged behind local rival AstraZeneca’s 140 percent advance.

Walmsley will join a small pool of women leaders in the pharmaceutical world. Her promotion also makes her the first female chief among the FTSE 100’s biggest companies. – Bloomberg