Glaxo CEO Walmsley Loses Top Lieutenant Ahead of Crucial Split
Glaxo R&D Chief to Step Down as Company Prepares for Split
(Bloomberg) -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s research and development chief is set to step down from the role to become chief executive of a Silicon Valley startup, ramping up pressure on the drugmaker as it tries to revive its fortunes and prepares to split in two this year.
Hal Barron, a U.S. scientist who’s overseen drug development efforts, will hand over the role of chief scientific officer to Glaxo’s Tony Wood in August. Barron will take up a new role as CEO of Altos Labs, a developer of anti-aging technologies whose backers include Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, according to MIT Technology Review.
The move comes at a pivotal moment for Glaxo as the company prepares to spin off its consumer business in mid-2022, with the possibility of a sale now on the table after it emerged Unilever Plc has made three bids for the unit in recent months.
Glaxo also faces pressure from Elliott Investment Management LP, which has raised questions about whether Glaxo has the right management team in place. The activist investor has queried whether CEO Emma Walmsley is the right person to lead the new pharma and vaccines business post-split.
Barron, 59, was a key hire by Walmsley soon after she took up the helm in 2017 and is highly regarded in scientific circles. A veteran of Genentech and Roche, Barron joined Glaxo from Calico, the anti-aging startup backed by Alphabet Inc., and has led the company’s efforts to rejuvenate its drugs pipeline in recent years. Barron earned more than Walmsley in 2020, taking home $11.2 million compared with her 7 million pounds ($9.5 million).
One of Barron’s main goals at the company has been to double the success rate of drug discovery to 20% using genomic data and artificial intelligence. Under his leadership as CSO, Glaxo has entered into partnerships with companies such as genetic testing biotech firm 23andMe Inc.
Still, the company has yet to demonstrate whether these efforts have paid off, raising questions about the timing of Barron’s departure. A number of advanced trials for potential blockbuster drugs are set to complete over the next two years.
Like Barron’s former employer Calico, Altos Labs is an anti-aging research company focused on the biology of cellular rejuvenation programming with the goal of reversing disease. Other big names associated with Altos include Jennifer Doudna, a biochemist and acquaintance of Barron’s who shared a Nobel Prize for her pioneering work developing Crispr.
Wood, 56, joined Glaxo from Pfizer Inc. in 2017 and has been central to the development of a number of Glaxo’s biggest drugs, including the HIV treatment cabenuva and cancer drug jemperli. At Pfizer, Wood set up the group that went on to create its Covid-19 antiviral treatment and invented the HIV treatment maraviroc.
The company conducted a search process that included external candidates to succeed Barron, who will remain a non-executive director on the U.K. drugmaker’s board and support R&D, according to a statement Wednesday.
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