GSK Management Shake Up Ahead Of New CEO Sees Hussain Out, AZ's Miels In

"Succession processes are challenging for everyone involved and, unfortunately, it is rare that all of those involved stay with the company," stated GSK's out-going CEO Andrew Witty, as Abbas Hussain decides to leave the company having lost out on the top job, which went to Emma Walmsley. His successor will be AstraZeneca's Luke Miels.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Abbas Hussain, president of its global pharmaceuticals unit, will leave the company later this year. He will be replaced by Luke Miels, currently head of AstraZeneca PLC's European business.

Abbas Hussain

The news follows the appointment of Emma Walmsley as Andrew Witty's successor. She takes over on April 1, 2017.

Indian-born, UK-educated Hussain joined GSK in 2008 and has held roles of increasing responsibility within the company’s pharmaceutical business. He is a member of GSK’s executive team and a board member of ViiV Healthcare. Witty said he had been one of the industry's "most talented and authentic leaders."

There is no indication of what Hussain's plans are when he leaves GSK. A number of significant big pharma players have left their companies to join small biotechs recently, but there are some tantalizing opportunities at rival organizations, such as Novartis AG. (Also see "J.P. Morgan Notebook Day 3: Novartis' Cancer Reorg, AbbVie's Price Pledge, Genentech’s Partnering And More" - Scrip, 12 Jan, 2017.)

"Abbas was considered one of the front runners to replace Sir Andrew, so the timing of his departure is not particularly surprising. As an established and successful pharma operator, he will undoubtedly appear on the leadership team of another pharmaceutical company soon," Brian McGee, a consultant with Novasecta told Scrip. "It is easy to speculate on the reasons behind his departure, but I would imagine that he has strong views on how the pharma business at GSK should be run and that Emma Walmsley has a different perspective."

The other leading internal figure that was touted for the CEO position was finance chief Simon Dingemans, but GSK has thus far managed to smooth any ruffled feathers there. (Also see "Witty's Successor: The Shortlist" - Scrip, 17 Mar, 2016.)

GSK of course must have known losing Hussain was a real possibility. In 2007/2008, the last time the company chose a new CEO, two of the three unsuccessful internal candidates for the job – David Stout and Christopher Viehbacher – left within months of Andrew Witty being appointed. Viehbacher, of note, went on to head up French pharma giant Sanofi. When he was ousted from that company in 2014, he surfaced as the head of a $2bn healthcare investment fund set up by Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli.

AstraZeneca appointment

Hussain's replacement as head of global pharmaceuticals is Luke Miels, currently head of AstraZeneca's European business and previously in charge of global product and portfolio strategy, global medical affairs and corporate affairs. He has also worked at Roche and Sanofi, but began his career as a sales rep for AstraZeneca in Australia.

Luke Miels

One industry observer told Scrip: "Seems with this move to GSK, Luke Miels gets back essentially the global role he had at AstraZeneca before he was confined just to Europe – which with Brexit (the UK's upcoming exit from the EU) probably looks less attractive."

"The appointment of Luke Miels is very interesting," noted Novasecta's McGee. "He has a very strong product strategy and marketing background, and therefore is probably more aligned to the new GSK commercial model."

Commenting on the appointment, GSK's CEO designate Walmsley said: "We are now entering a critical period of commercialization for our new pharmaceutical products and, over the next two to three years, we have important data to come on our early-stage pipeline. Luke will bring a strong new voice to the decisions and choices we will have to make for our Pharmaceuticals business."