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Tony Wood Replaces Hal Barron as GSK’s Chief Executive Officer
As chief executive officer of GSK, Wood will assume full responsibility for research and development across the company’s portfolio and pipeline from August 2022.
GSK recently appointed Tony Wood as chief executive officer (CSO), replacing current CSO Hal Barron.
Wood, a highly respected scientist and one of the world’s pre-eminent chemists, has over 30 years of experience working across various disciplines of research and development to deliver innovative medicines.
In 2017, Wood joined GSK from Pfizer as a senior vice president of medicinal science and technology. Under this role, he was responsible for all science and technology platforms that support discovery, clinical development, and delivery of new medicines across GSK.
As CSO, Wood will assume full accountability for research and development across GSK’s portfolio and pipeline from August 2022.
On the other hand, Barron will assume the position of CEO and board co-chair of Altos Labs while remaining a member of GSK’s board and serving as a non-executive director and member of the board’s science committee for three years.
Additionally, Barron will continue to work with the scientific community, partners, and other companies to support research and development on behalf of GSK.
“Tony has been a key partner to Hal in delivering our R&D approach, and with his experience and expertise across science, data and new technologies, he is perfectly placed to build on Hal’s outstanding progress and to deliver value from our pipeline,” Emma Walmsley, chief executive officer of GSK, said in the announcement.
Currently, GSK has a pipeline of 21 vaccines and 42 medicines, many of which offer potential best or first-in-class opportunities for patients and will drive growth at the company.
Over the past four years, GSK has delivered 13 major product approvals and more than doubled the number of assets in Phase 3/registration to 23.
Barron expressed that Wood will be an “outstanding” chief science officer for GSK and stated that he is excited to remain part of GSK and play a significant role within the company as he transitions to Altos Labs.
“I am honored to have been asked to lead GSK’s R&D. In the past few years, under Hal’s leadership, we have made enormous progress to strengthen the pipeline and put in place an R&D approach that can improve the efficiency and success of medicine and vaccine development,” Wood said.
“I am confident that we will deliver highly successful and much needed scientific innovation for patients in the years ahead,” he concluded.
