BRIEF—GSK's R&D head to leave for top UK government job; reports

Patrick Vallance, president of pharmaceuticals R&D at UK pharma major GlaxoSmithKline, is set to leave the company to become the British government's new chief scientific adviser, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday, according to media reports by Reuters and others.

His planned departure comes three months after GSK's new chief executive Emma Walmsley announced a major shake-up in the pharmaceuticals division and said the group needed to do better in drug development by adopting a sharper commercial focus.

Dr Vallance, who joined GSK in 2006 and has been president of R&D since January 2012, has not yet officially resigned. If and when he does so, GSK will be obliged to issue a statement, since he is also a board member.

Interestingly, former GSK CEO Sir Andrew Witty last week was appointed chairman of NHS England’s new Accelerated Access Collaborative, aimed at establishing a new fast-track route for breakthrough medicines.