GSK to spin out consumer health

When Emma Walmsley took over as the new chief executive at pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) investors thought building a consumer health business was the main objective. After all, Ms Walmsley had spent 17 years at L’Oreal, during which time she ran the French cosmetics giant’s Chinese consumer products business. After joining GSK in 2010, she became president of the pharma group’s European consumer healthcare division. Then, just before Ms Walmsley took up the reins as chief executive in April, GSK announced its intention to buy out Swiss group Novartis from the two companies’ consumer health joint venture for £9.2bn. Suffice to say, the market felt confident about where GSK’s strategy was headed.