Britain’s second-biggest drugmaker GSK has announced the surprise departure of its chief executive, Emma Walmsley, after eight years in the top job.
Walmsley, who has run the FTSE 100 company since 2017, will step down from the board at the end of this year, and remain at the business until her notice period ends on 30 September 2026.
Luke Miels, GSK’s chief commercial officer who has been at the company since 2017, will replace her and starts on 1 January.
GSK’s shares rose by more than 3% on Monday morning, making it the top riser on the FTSE 100 index.
Walmsley, who ran the drugmaker’s consumer healthcare business before she was promoted to the top job, has overseen significant changes at the group, including the 2022 spin-off of its consumer arm, now called Haleon, with brands such as Sensodyne, Panadol and Advil – its biggest corporate restructure in two decades.
GSK’s pipeline of new drugs has lagged behind rivals but she slimmed it down to focus on the “real winners” when she took over from Sir Andrew Witty, and sharpened its focus on speciality medicines and vaccines.
Walmsley said: “2026 is a pivotal year for GSK to define its path for the decade ahead, and I believe the right moment for new leadership.
“As CEO, you hope to leave the company you love stronger than you found it and prepare for seamless succession. I’m proud to have done both – and to have created Haleon, a new world-leader in consumer health.”
Miels had been poached from UK rival AstraZeneca, and touted as a potential successor when Walmsley came under intense pressure in 2021 from the activist investor Elliott Management, a US hedge fund, which criticised years of underperformance and demanded changes at the top.
However, Walmsley successfully fended off pressure from Elliott and a few months later the company rebuffed takeover offers for its consumer healthcare arm from Dove maker Unilever, the last valuing GSK at £50bn.
One of Britain’s best-known businesswomen, Walmsley joined the prime minister’s business council in mid-2023 under Rishi Sunak and recently attended the state banquet at Windsor Castle during Donald Trump’s visit to the UK.
Walmsley is one of the highest-paid chief executives in the UK, with a £10.6m total package last year, down from £12.7m in 2023 as a result of lower bonuses. Her fixed pay was little changed at £1.6m.
Her departure will leave the FTSE 100 with just seven female chief executives: Milena Mondini de Focatiis at Admiral, Amanda Blanc at Aviva, Allison Kirkby at BT, Stella David at Entain, Liv Garfield at Severn Trent, Louise Beardmore at United Utilities and Margherita Della Valle at Vodafone.
The GSK chair, Sir Jonathan Symonds, thanked Walmsley for her “outstanding leadership in delivering a strategic transformation of GSK, including the successful demerger of Haleon” and said the business had a “bright and ambitious future”.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “There’s an exciting pipeline ahead and, this year alone, GSK’s on track for five major regulatory approvals. Her reign also saw a line drawn in the sand in the Zantac litigation case, removing a key financial uncertainty.”
Despite Walmsley’s dealmaking progress, the share price performance has been lacklustre, Nathan noted, and the company’s growth rates remain stuck in single-digit territory.
“There’s a $40bn [£30bn] sales target in place for 2031, but analyst forecasts suggest some doubts still linger. It will be down to the leadership of CEO designate Luke Miels to convince the market. He’s been handed a business in good shape.”
GSK, which is headquartered in London, employs more than 65,000 people across the world. It is one of the largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, with a market capitalisation of £60bn.
Walmsley’s departure comes at a difficult time in the pharmaceutical industry, as Trump has threatened to impose new tariffs this week on branded drugs, as well as trucks and kitchen cabinets.
Drugmakers are also locked in a row with the UK government over pricing of new medicines, and other companies – AstraZeneca along with MSD and Eli Lilly of the US – have either paused or scrapped important investments in the UK.
GSK has stressed its commitment to the UK, while also announcing new investment in manufacturing and research in the US two weeks ago, part of a $30bn package over the next six years. On Monday, Astra said it was preparing to directly list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange but would remain listed in London.
A recent industry report showed that the UK has lost ground to rivals in the global race for pharmaceutical investment and research.
