GlaxoSmithKline has appointed the head of its consumer healthcare division to lead that business after it is demerged next year.
The British drugs company is facing questions from Elliott Management, its activist shareholder, over why it has not run an appointment process for the leadership of its remaining biopharma business.
GSK has chosen Brian McNamara as chief executive-designate after a six-month search involving Spencer Stuart and Egon Zehnder, the headhunters. Sir Jonathan Symonds, GSK’s chairman, said that McNamara, 55, who joined from Novartis in 2015, had been appointed following a “thorough process conducted by the board”.
However, Elliott, the American hedge fund agitating for an overhaul of the board and a potential sale of its consumer business, is thought to be questioning why the
