In October, high-profile U.K. fund manager Neil Woodford advocated for a four-way break-up of GlaxoSmithKline, a company he said could unlock “significant shareholder value” by splitting apart. And he hasn’t quit championing that idea.
As Woodford told the BBC Friday, GSK is so complicated that it runs itself “like four FTSE 100 companies bolted together”–and, on top of that, the pharma giant doesn’t “do a particularly good job of managing all of the constituent parts.”
Instead, he said, he’d like to see the company “focus on certain activities in the portfolio and do them better than they have done in the past, demerge the bits they haven’t managed particularly well and let other people who specialize in those activities run those businesses.”
It’s basically Big Pharma’s slim-down mantra to a tee. Over the last few years, companies have been hiving off or trading away non-core assets to home in on what they do best; Glaxo itself was part of a multi-billion-dollar asset swap last year with Novartis that sent its oncology meds to Switzerland, bolstered its position in the vaccines market and set up an industry-leading consumer health joint venture.
But the way Woodford sees it, that’s not enough. The sum of Glaxo’s parts is still worth more than its current share price, he told the news service.
If it’s a large-scale restructuring he wants, though, he’ll have to take it up with CEO Andrew Witty, who made it clear on the company’s Q3 conference call that the drugmaker had thoroughly considered–and decided against–any divestment moves. Glaxo has already weighed an established products sale, he said, but “that just wasn’t a good economic transaction to do.”
And as far as a spinoff of surging HIV drugs business ViiV Healthcare–it’s not happening, the CEO said, echoing the decision GSK made last May after weighing a divestment for months.
“We took the decision not to separate it because we believed we were the best owners,” he said. “… And I think we’ve been vindicated since.”
By Carly Helfand
Source: Fierce Pharma
Five years ago, GSK made headlines when it hired Emma Walmsley to become the first woman to run a major pharmaceutical company. Now the Big Pharma has brought in another woman to control the company’s finances. Julie Brown will be GSK’s next chief financial officer. Brown, currently the chief operating and financial officer at fashion and beauty brand Burberry Group, is set to replace Iain Mackay.
Moderna created a new role responsible for “building out the company’s organization to support its growing pipeline.” Starting first thing 2023, Juan Andres, Moderna’s manufacturing head, will step into this new role under the title president of strategic partnerships and enterprise expansion, the company said Thursday.
The latest takeover is anticipated to boost the presence of Torrent in the dermatology segment. Indian company Torrent Pharmaceuticals has signed a definitive agreement for the complete acquisition of Curatio Healthcare for $245.16m (Rs20bn).
