GlaxoSmithKline Chief Executive Officer Emma Walmsley has made another key appointment to her senior leadership team.
GlaxoSmithKline Chief Executive Officer Emma Walmsley has made another key appointment to her senior leadership team. This morning Walmsley named HSBC banking veteran Iain Mackay as the company’s new chief financial officer.
Mackay will replace outgoing CFO Simon Dingemans, who announced his intention to retire from GSK earlier this year. Dingemans has been with GSK since 2011 and will retire in May 2019. Mackay, who has been with HSBC for the past eight years, will assume his new role with the pharma company on Jan. 14, 2019. Dingemans will continue his role as CFO until March 2019. GSK said there will be a transition period between the time Mackay joins the company and Dingemans turns over the financial reins.
As CFO MacKay will receive a base salary of £850,000, about $1.1 million. Mackay will also be eligible for an annual bonus of £850,000, as well as other financial compensations. He will assume a seat on the company’s board of directors.
At HSBC Mackay has been group finance director and has worked in global markets for that banking institution. Prior to HSBC, Mackay worked with General Electric, Schlumberger Dowell and Price Waterhouse. Although he has spent his career with corporations and banking institutions, Mackay is not a stranger to the healthcare industry. He is a trustee of the British Heart Foundation, a U.K.-based charity that funds research into heart disease.
Walmsley called MacKay a “proven CFO of a complex, regulated global organization.” Mackay, Walmsley said, brings “tremendous finance experience” and added that he will be a great addition to her team.
“He is a strong leader with a track record of driving cost, cash and capital allocation discipline to deliver strategy. These capabilities will be vital as we continue to implement our Innovation, Performance and Trust priorities for the benefit of patients and shareholders,” Walmsley said in a statement.
Since taking over GlaxoSmithKline in 2017, Walmsley has carefully shaped her leadership team with her own hires. Over the past year, she has brought onboard Genentech’s Kevin Sin as the head of worldwide business development for pharmaceuticals research & development. Additionally, Hal Baron, who took over as GSK’s chief scientific officer last year. Another key hire for Walmsley was AstraZeneca’s Luke Miels as the global head of GSK’s pharmaceuticals.
Last year Walmsley announced a shakeup to GSK’s R&D division, which at the time accounted for 16 percent of the company’s revenue. Walmsley and Baron recently laid out a new R&D strategy for the company that paves the way for potential long-term growth with an increased focus on the harnessing of genetic data to drive its clinical pipelines.
