GlaxoSmithKline exec joins board

One of GlaxoSmithKline’s top executives has joined the board, two months after he failed to take over the role of chief executive.

Chris Viehbacher is currently head of pharmaceuticals but will take a position on the board from the end of January.

Meanwhile, the medicinal giant has announced the current president of pharmaceuticals David Stout is to leave the organisation early next year.

Mr Stout had also been keen to secure the role of chief executive and GlaxoSmithKline had sought to retain both him and Mr Viehbacher with incentives, Reuters reports via the Guardian.

A spokeswoman for the drugs firm told the news agency: “They were both very talented executives and we would have liked for both of them to have stayed.”

Last month, GlaxoSmithKline announced it had acquired Reliant Pharmaceuticals, a privately held company specialising in cardiovascular therapies, for ?800 million.

It said the investment would create “additional value” for the company in future years.