GlaxoSmithKline
|
|
| Type |
Public (NYSE: GSK) |
| Founded |
2000, by merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham |
| Location |
HQ in Brentford, United Kingdom |
| Key people |
Sir Chris Gent, Chairman
Jean-Pierre Garnier, Chief Executive
Julian Heslop, Chief Financial Officer |
| Industry |
Pharmaceutical |
| Products |
Central nervous system, respiratory, antiviral, antibiotic, oncology and emesis, metabolic, cardiovascular, urogenital, and over-the-counter medicines; vaccines; oral and nutritional healthcare products |
| Revenue |
 £21.66 billion GBP/ US $38.0481 Billion. (2005) |
| Employees |
100,019 (31/12/2004) |
| Website |
www.gsk.com |
GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE: GSK NYSE: GSK) is a British based pharmaceutical, biologicals, and healthcare company. The second largest pharmaceutical company in the world (after Pfizer), the company had sales of £21.66 billion and made a profit of almost £6.9 billion in 2005. It employs around 100,000 people worldwide, including over 40,000 in sales and marketing. Its worldwide headquarters are in Brentford Middlesex, UK. With Operations based in Philadelphia in the United States.
The company is listed on the London and New York Stock Exchanges. It does most of its business in the United States, but has a presence in almost 70 countries. The company's CEO is Jean-Pierre Garnier (former COO of SmithKline Beecham) and the non-executive chairman is Sir Christopher Gent.
GSK was formed in December 2000 by a merger between Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, both the product of mergers themselves, as recently as 1995 for Glaxo and Burroughs Wellcome. GSK was actually incorporated in December 1999 as part of the lengthy merger process.
GSK is a research based company with a wide portfolio of pharmaceutical products covering anti-infectives, central nervous system (CNS), respiratory, gastro-intestinal/metabolic, oncology and vaccines products. It also has a Consumer Healthcare operation comprising leading oral healthcare products, nutritional drinks and over the counter (OTC) medicines.
In 2005, pharmaceutical sales accounted for £18.66 billion (or 86%) of GSK's total sales. Sales are based around a broad range of products with the most successful being:
- Seretide / Advair (combination of the bronchodilator salmeterol and the steroid fluticasone, £3,003m)
- Avandia (rosiglitazone, a PPAR-gamma agonist, £1,154m)
- Lamictal (lamotrigine, an anticonvulsant used to treat various types of epilepsy, £849m)
- Zofran (ondansetron hydrochloride, used to prevent nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer, £837m)
- Wellbutrin (bupropion, an anti-depressant, £739 m)
The company works hard to protect the patents of its drug formulations and their respective trademarks. It recently went to court to enforce patents on Augmentin (2002) and Paxil (2003), but lost both trials.
Corporate governance
Current members of the board of directors of GlaxoSmithKline are: Jean-Pierre Garnier, Chris Gent, Lawrence Culp, Sir Crispin Davis, Tom De Swaan, Julian Heslop, Deryck Maughan, Ian Prosser, Ronaldo Schmitz, Lucy Shapiro, Robert Wilson, and Tadataka Yamada.
Diversity
GlaxoSmithKline was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine and was recognized by the International Charter for its efforts. GSK also received a perfect score of 100 per cent from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2005 Corporate Equality Index, an annual report card of corporate America's treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) employees, customers and investors.
Controversy
The company has been targeted by animal rights activists because it is a customer of the controversial animal-testing company, Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS). HLS has been the subject since 1999 of an international campaign by Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), ever since footage shot covertly by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which was shown on British television, showed staff punching, kicking, screaming and laughing at the animals in their care.
On September 7, 2005, the ALF detonated a bomb containing two litres of fuel and four pounds of explosives on the doorstop of the Buckinghamshire home of Paul Blackburn, GSK's corporate controller, causing minor damage. An ALF statement left on the animal-rights website Bite Back appeared to warn GSK that there would be further action: "We have identified and tracked down many of your senior executives and also junior staff, as well as those from other HLS customers. Drop HLS or you will face the consequences. For all the animals inside HLS, we will be back." [1] [2]
In November 2005, AIDS Healthcare Foundation accused the company of boasting its short-term monopoly profit by not increasing production of the anti-AIDS drug AZT despite a surge in demand, hence creating a shortage that affected many AIDS patients in Africa. [3]
In June 2003 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released an advisory statement regarding the use of Paxil for the pediatric population [4]. However, the US government has not banned the use of the drug for children, as the United Kingdom has, but instead directed the manufacturer to include a "black box" label on the prescription medication. As of 2006, there is currently no consensus on the effects of Paxil in youth.
In June 2004 the company had court proceedings initiated against them on allegations of fraud. The allegation is that the company suppressed research that shows that Paxil/Seroxat is little more effective than a placebo and increases suicidal feelings in young people, side effects which have commonly been reported by users for some time.
At the AGM on 19 May 2003, GSK shareholders rejected a motion regarding a £22 million pay and benefits package for Jean-Pierre Garnier. This is the first time such a rebellion by shareholders against a major British company has occurred, but is regarded as a possible turning point against other so-called "fat cat" deals within executive pay structures.
See also
External links
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlaxoSmithKline under GFDL
