JPM day 212 Jan 2022 18:26
GSK Prepares for De-Merger of Pharma and Consumer Healthcare
The year 2022 is expected to be transformative for GlaxoSmithKline. CEO Emma Walmsley noted that the pharma business and the consumer healthcare business's demerger is expected to "unlock tremendous value" for shareholders. Walmsley, who has been embattled by doubts of some shareholders over her ability to lead the pharmaceutical business, spent a significant portion of 2021 highlighting the planned demerger and preparing shareholders for the future of GSK.
Since taking over the helm of GSK in 2017, Walmsley has been positioning the company's pharma platform for future growth. Over the past five years, the company has achieved 13 major regulatory approvals and has a pipeline of more than 60 different assets, including 23 potential vaccines for various viral threats.
"We are now ready to deliver the most significant corporate change for GSK seen in more than 20 years, to separate and create a new GSK and new consumer healthcare. Both of these businesses will have scale impacts on human health and the opportunity to deliver compelling performance attractive returns to shareholders," Walmsley said in her presentation.
The de-merger is expected to take place in the middle months of 2022.