GlaxoSmithKline to become the ‘Microsoft of pharmaceuticals’

JP Garnier, GlaxoSmithKline’s chief executive has said he wishes to further the vision of one of his predecessors in making the firm the “Microsoft of the pharmaceuticals industry”.

Sir Richard Sykes, the former Glaxo chief executive in charge of the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, said in 2000 that he wanted Glaxo to emulate Microsoft’s success in the software market, according to the Independent.

JP Garnier said in an interview that he intended to continue work on Sir Richard’s vision for the world’s second largest pharmaceuticals company behind Pfizer.

He told the Independent: “In terms of creating the Microsoft, this is a vision of the most research and development intensive company, which I completely agree with.”

“We have a chance to step away from the rest of our competition if we execute our plan well and we’re now in a position to do so,” he added.

“If we don’t make significant profits, the money is not going to be there to discover the next Alzheimer miracle or the next vaccine against cancer. We’re a high-risk, high return kind of company,” concluded Mr Garnier.

On Wednesday, Glaxo announced that Avandamet, its diabetes drug, has been approved by the FDA for patients where alternative therapies have failed. It is targeted at patients with type-II diabetes.

The company had to temporarily stop producing the drug last year after compliance problems in its Puerto Rico facility. Other Glaxo drugs, such as Coreg and Paxil CR, were also affected.

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