Glaxo CEO Witty: Brexit Could Reduce Parallel Trade in EU But Too Soon to Tell
July 28 2016 - 8:54AM
Dow Jones News
By Denise Roland
LONDON--GlaxoSmithKline PLC's (GSK) chief executive, Andrew
Witty, Thursday said his near-decade in the top job had left the
company in a stronger position and that the drugmaker would now
enjoy "straight growth" for several years.
Mr. Witty, who will step down in March next year, spent much of
his tenure replacing revenue that was lost when the company's old
blockbuster products lost patent protection. He did that through a
combination of new drug launches and acquisitions.
"Under the surface, an enormous new business has developed," he
said, meaning the company would have "nowhere near that kind of
drag" from generic competition for the next ten years.
The departing boss was also upbeat on the company's pipeline of
drugs under development, saying many were the first of their
kind.
Mr. Witty has a mixed record with investors. Some are unhappy
with his shift away from the risk-laden pharmaceuticals business
towards the more stable vaccines and consumer healthcare
businesses.
But the boss said that while Glaxo is less dependent on
pharmaceuticals than when he took the reins in 2008, innovation
remains a "huge priority" for the business. "It's increasingly
clear we are succeeding in delivering innovation," he said. "This
isn't always visible to people early."
The Glaxo boss was also hopeful that the company's yearslong
slump in China, where it faced a huge bribery scandal in 2013, is
coming to an end.
The company has divested several products in China to focus
mainly on innovative medicines and cut down its sales force. It has
also been forced to cut prices for many medicines to win a place on
the country's drug formularies.
Mr. Witty said Glaxo was now selling its medicines at lower
prices than would have been the case in the past, but that he hoped
this would translate to higher volumes. "As we move through the
rest of the year and the end of the next, I expect China to start
to grow," he said.
Write to Denise Roland at denise.roland@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 28, 2016 08:39 ET (12:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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