Glaxo's Viehbacher to leave after missing CEO job

LONDON:Chris Viehbacher, who lost out to Andrew Witty in the race to lead GlaxoSmithKline Plc is to leave the world's second largest drugmaker on December 1 to pursue another, unspecified opportunity. He will stand down from the board of the British-based drugmaker with immediate effect, Europe's top drugmaker said on Monday.

Viehbacher, who headed Glaxo's North American pharmaceuticals business, was one of two unsuccessful candidates who had vied for the chief executive position at the group. The other was David Stout, who has already left the company.

Viehbacher and Witty were seen as the most likely candidates to take over the top job, following the retirement of outgoing CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier in May. Industry analysts said Viehbacher, a dual citizen of Canada and Germany who also speaks French, was likely to have lined up a top role at another pharmaceutical company. "It was probably inevitable.

Chris was not going to hang around as a number two forever," said one. Viehbacher enjoyed a relatively high profile with investors as head of the Glaxo's key U.S. operation. He also directed much of the damage-limitation work on Avandia, following last year's scare linking the diabetes pill to heart attack risk.

Glaxo had agreed to pay Viehbacher a retention package worth around 2.5 million pounds ($4.5 million) to stay, payable in two tranches in 2009 and 2011. This will not now be paid, a company spokesman said. Two senior vice presidents within the U.S. business, Stan Hull and David Pernock, will take over day-to-day operations for pharmaceuticals and vaccines in North America on an interim basis, reporting directly to Witty.