GSK today (26) has named luxury fashion brand Burberry's Julie Brown as its new chief financial officer to succeed Iain Mackay, creating all-female executive leadership team.
Mackay is retiring after serving as GSK's finance chief for more than three years. The change comes after GSK spun off its large consumer business Haleon to focus on prescription drugs and vaccines.
Brown, 60, has had earlier stints in the health and pharmaceuticals industry.
She joined Burberry in 2017 from medical products maker Smith & Nephew and was a board member at Swiss drugmaker Roche ROG.S until Sept. 26 when she stepped down. She also served in several finance roles at AstraZeneca.
"(Mackay) has played a very significant role to help deliver the reshaping of GSK and to improve our operating and financial performance ... Julie is a highly experienced CFO with a tremendous understanding of the biopharma sector," GSK'S Chief Executive Officer Emma Walmsley said in a statement.
With Walmsley as GSK's CEO, Brown's appointment also creates a rare, all-female top management at a blue-chip .FTSE British company and a global pharma major.
Under Boris Johnson's administration, she was also a member of the prime minister's business council, which advised him on business and economic issues.