Andrew Witty

Sir Andrew Witty

Andrew Witty wearing a suit

Andrew Witty on 22 October 2015 at Chatham House
Born Andrew Philip Witty
(1964-08-22) 22 August 1964
Occupation

CEO, GlaxoSmithKline

Chancellor, University of Nottingham (2013)
Salary GB£6,700,000 (2015, total compensation)[1][2]
Spouse(s) Caroline M. Witty (née Hall)
Children 2 [3]

Sir Andrew Philip Witty (born 22 August 1964[3]) is the chief executive officer (CEO) of GlaxoSmithKline since 2008, and chancellor of the University of Nottingham. On 17 March 2016 it was announced that Witty will retire from GlaxoSmithKline in March 2017.[1]

Early life

Witty attended Malbank School (originally the "Nantwich and Acton Grammar School") in Nantwich, and then gained a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nottingham.[3][4]

Career

Witty joined Glaxo UK in 1985 as a management trainee.[5] He held various positions in the UK, including Director of Pharmacy & Distribution in Glaxo Pharmaceuticals UK,[6] Director of Business Development of Biocompatibles Limited and International Product Manager of Glaxo Holdings PLC. He served as Managing Director of Glaxo South Africa and Area Director of South and East Africa.

He served as a vice president and general manager of marketing of Glaxo Wellcome Inc., a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline with responsibility for strategy development, marketing execution and new product positioning. He served as an economic adviser to the Governor of Guangzhou, China from 2000-02.[7]

He was appointed president, Pharmaceuticals Europe of GlaxoSmithKline plc in January 2003[7] and succeeded Jean-Pierre Garnier as CEO following his retirement in May 2008. He is paid an annual salary of GB£948,000 and receives bonuses and other compensation amounting to GB£2,180,000 for this role.[8][9]

In February 2009 he pledged to make a major change in the way GSK pharmaceuticals are priced, in an attempt to make vital drugs more affordable in countries with the lowest incomes. At the same time he announced that GSK would place certain patents in a pool so that they were freely available for others in the search for new drugs.[10]

On 2 July 2012, GSK pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to a $3 billion settlement of the largest health-care fraud case in the U.S. and the largest payment by a drug company.[11] The settlement is related to the company's illegal promotion of prescription drugs, its failure to report safety data,[12] bribing doctors, and promoting medicines for uses for which they were not licensed. The drugs involved were Paxil, Wellbutrin, Advair, Lamictal, and Zofran for off-label, non-covered uses. Those and the drugs Imitrex, Lotronex, Flovent, and Valtrex were involved in the kickback scheme.[13][14][15]

In October 2012 it was announced that he had been appointed the Chancellor of the University of Nottingham with effect from 1 January 2013, having maintained strong ties with the university since graduation.[16]

In July 2013, the People's Republic of China announced that they were investigating allegations of fraud perpetrated by GSK going back to 2007 and involving thousands of millions of renminbi.[17] Four GSK executives have already been arrested in China. It is alleged that he money was used, inter alia, to bribe around 25 travel agencies that organize conferences for doctors, in order to encourage the agencies to host GSK events. Witty later claimed that he knew nothing about the China fraud and tried to pass the blame onto subordinates.[18]

In November 2015 Witty's leadership of GSK was criticised by Neil Woodford, who said that "he’s not doing a very good job". Woodford called for GSK to be split into four companies.[19] In March 2016 Witty announced that he was to stand down as chief executive.[20]

Public bodies

Witty serves as a director of Singapore Economic Development Board, and on the Imperial College Commercialisation Advisory Board. He is a member of the INSEAD UK Council, Health Innovation Council in the UK and a director of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research. He is also a member of the Economic Development Board audit committee as well as a board member of the Singapore Land Authority Board.[7]

Knighthood

Witty was knighted in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to the economy and the UK pharmaceutical industry.[21]

Personal life

Witty is a keen marathon runner, and ran the London Marathon in 2008.[22][23] He lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife, Caroline, and two children.[24]

References

  1. 1 2 Kollewe, Julia (17 March 2016). "GSK chief Andrew Witty to leave drugmaker". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Executive Profile: Andrew Philip Witty". Bloomberg. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Davidson, Andrew (2009-07-26). "The Andrew Davidson Interview: Andrew Witty". The Sunday Times (London). Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  4. ↑ Pagnamenta, Robin (2008-01-12). "Business big shot: Andrew Witty". The Times (London). Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  5. ↑ "Andrew Witty's journey from Graduate to GSK CEO". GlaxoSmithKline. 2008-08-12. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  6. ↑ "Andrew Witty profile". GlaxoSmithKline. 2010-01-15. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  7. 1 2 3 "GlaxoSmithKline appoints Andrew Witty CEO designate". GlaxoSmithKline. 2007-10-08. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  8. ↑ "Andrew Witty Profile at Forbes.com". Forbes. 2009. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  9. ↑ "Andrew Witty: Executive Profile & Biography at BusinessWeek". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  10. ↑ Boseley, Sarah (2009-02-13). "Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline pledges cheap medicine for world's poor". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  11. ↑ "GlaxoSmithKline". BBC News. 4 July 2012.
  12. ↑ "GlaxoSmithKline Agrees to Pay $3 Billion in U.S. Drug Settlement". Bloomberg. 2 July 2012.
  13. ↑ Fred Mogul (2 July 2012). "NY to Get Millions in GlaxoSmithKlein Settlement". WNYC. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  14. ↑ "BBC News -GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3bn in US drug fraud scandal". BBC Online. 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  15. ↑ Thomas, Katie and Schmidt, Michael S. (July 2, 2012). "Glaxo Agrees to Pay $3 Billion in Fraud Settlement". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  16. ↑ University of Nottingham appoints new Chancellor - The University of Nottingham
  17. ↑ Ahmed, Kamal (2013-07-19). "GSK chief Andrew Witty set to admit China 'scam’". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  18. ↑ Rojas, John-Paul (2013-07-24). "GlaxoSmithKline boss Sir Andrew Witty:: UK headquarters 'knew nothing' of China fraud". The Independent (London). Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  19. ↑ https://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/neil-woodford-launches-fresh-attack-on-glaxosmithkline/
  20. ↑ https://next.ft.com/content/9321ad06-ec19-11e5-bb79-2303682345c8
  21. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60009. p. 2. 31 December 2011.
  22. ↑ "Flora London Marathon - Andrew Witty's Fundraising Page". JustGiving. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  23. ↑ Peston, Robert (2008-08-30). "Leading Questions: Andrew Witty" (Flash video, 21m30s). BBC News. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  24. ↑ Lyall, Ian (2008-10-23). "City interview: Glaxo's Andrew Witty". This is Money. Retrieved 2010-12-11.

External links


Business positions
Preceded by
Jean-Pierre Garnier		 Chief Executive of GSK
June 2008 - 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Academic offices
Preceded by
Yang Fujia		 Chancellor of the University of Nottingham
2013–present 		Incumbent


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