GlaxoSmithKline is to hire Jonathan Symonds, a former finance director at rival drugmakers AstraZeneca and Novartis, as its new chairman to oversee a break-up of the UK pharmaceuticals group.
The appointment of Mr Symonds, who is currently deputy group chairman of HSBC, will end a six-month search for a replacement for Sir Philip Hampton, who has been non-executive chairman of GSK since 2015.
Mr Symonds has extensive experience of the pharmaceutical industry. He was chief financial officer at Swiss drugmaker Novartis between 2009 and 2013. He also spent a decade at AstraZeneca until 2007, when he quit to join US investment bank Goldman Sachs after losing out on the chief executive role at the UK pharmaceuticals company.
His appointment at GSK could be announced as soon as this week, although it could take several weeks longer as it requires approval from the UK banking regulator given his role at HSBC, one person briefed on the matter said.
A key attraction of Mr Symonds is his extensive experience in carrying out transformative deals. GSK is preparing to demerge its consumer division into a joint venture with Pfizer, which will list separately on the stock exchange.
The remainder of the company will become a standalone pharma and vaccines company with its own listing.
During his tenure at AstraZeneca, Mr Symonds was involved in its acquisition of MedIummune, the biologics R&D company. At Novartis, he was part of the team that oversaw the acquisition of Alcon, the eyecare company, and its investment in Sandoz, its generic medicines division.
At a far earlier stage of his career, he was part of a team that was involved in the deal to spin off Zeneca as a separate pharmaceuticals company from former British chemicals giant, ICI. Zeneca eventually combined with Astra of Sweden to form the modern-day AstraZeneca.
One person briefed on the appointment process said it was this experience, not only in life sciences but, through his banking background, in capital markets, which made Mr Symonds a strong fit for GSK.
The advanced talks between GSK and Mr Symonds were first reported by Sky News.
Investors are likely to welcome the appointment of a figure steeped in the life sciences industry. In the past, some have privately expressed concern that neither the current chief executive, Emma Walmsley, nor the outgoing chairman Sir Philip had a pharma background.
A spokesman for GSK said: “GlaxoSmithKline plc announced in January 2019 that the board had started the process to find a successor to Sir Philip Hampton as non-executive chairman. An announcement of the appointment of a new chairman will be made in due course.”
