GlaxoSmithKline names Emma Walmsley as new CEO

At the helm: Walmsley will replace Andrew Witty as chief executive. – Reuters

LONDON: GlaxoSmithKline said it had chosen its head of consumer healthcare, Emma Walmsley, as its new chief executive, after considering internal and external candidates.

She will become the first woman to head a top global pharmaceutical company and only the seventh to lead a business in Britain’s FTSE 100 index. Walmsley, 47, joined Britain’s biggest drugmaker in 2010 from L'Oreal and will replace Andrew Witty, who had previously announced his decision to retire on March 31, 2017. She will join the board from January.