The first woman to helm a Big Pharma will be stepping down in January as GSK’s Emma Walmsley moves aside for her chief commercial officer Luke Miels.
Walmsley, 56, who became the British pharma’s CEO back in 2017, will officially leave Jan. 1, 2026, after turning around the fortunes of GSK in recent years.
That turn was not smooth, however. Back in 2021, Walmsley took a major decision to de-merge GSK’s consumer health unit Haleon, leaving the Big Pharma's biopharma and vaccines divisions to stand on their own.
While Walmsley had the support and confidence of GSK’s board, activist investment group Elliott Management, later followed by Bluebell Capital Partners, started calling for change at the top, citing “years of under-management.”
Elliott, which built a major stake in the company, then rallied to remove Walmsley after the separation, saying she should head Haleon instead, a nod to her previous stint as GSK’s consumer lead.
Walmsley fought back and eventually won out in the summer of 2022 when Haleon split from the larger group. Calls for her departure all but stopped when the strategy appeared to work as sales for the new-look GSK grew in 2023 and 2024.
However, problems are still bubbling under the surface. GSK’s major growth driver Shingrix is seeing sales drop off, while tied to this is the sales slump for the relatively new RSV vaccine Arexvy.
After a blockbuster burst onto the market in 2024, sales of Arexvy nosedived, coming amid a background of greater vaccine scrutiny from the Trump administration.
During Walmsley’s tenure, the company also withdrew its antibody-drug conjugate Blenrep in multiple myeloma in 2022. There remains hope that the troubled med could be reapproved by the FDA, with a decision expected by Oct. 23, though the path to any potential Blenrep comeback has proven tough for the company.
Questions over how well it can lean on its R&D pipeline as patents, notably in HIV, start to fall away have also dogged the company. So too has the relative success of fellow British Big Pharma AstraZeneca, which has also in the past seen its fair share of difficulties and now has a market cap nearly three times bigger than GSK's.
Transition
GSK’s detailed statement on the move shows that while a shock to the outside world, this transition has been months in the making.
Miels’ appointment “reflects effective long-term succession planning by the board and Emma, and the outcome of a rigorous process, conducted by the board with external support, over the last few months,” GSK said in a statement.
The Big Pharma looked over both “internal and external candidates,” with the board’s priorities for the next CEO being to “deliver shareholder value and value recognition through strong focus on pipeline delivery, exceeding the 2031 outlooks, and preparing for the next wave of R&D through ambitious adoption of technology and championing of exceptional patient outcomes.”
Walmsley will stay on next year to help with the transition until her notice period ends Sept. 30, 2026. “In addition, given the potential impact to GSK’s operating environment arising from geopolitics and new technologies, the board has asked Emma to support the company and the new CEO on these matters,” the drugmaker said.
Miels starts with a "discount" pay packet
Miels, 50, has been CCO at GSK since 2017, having global responsibility for medicines and vaccines as well as being “instrumental,” according to GSK, in building the company's specialty medicines portfolio, notably in oncology and respiratory. He will be “CEO designate” until officially taking the top seat next year.
Miels, who has served stints at Roche, Sanofi and AstraZeneca, will not start as chief with the same wage as Walmsley. “The starting salary has been set at a discount to that of his predecessor with the variable levels set at the same multiples of salary,” said GSK, pointing out that Miels can earn more relatively swiftly if he hits the ground running.
His base salary will be 1.37 million pounds sterling ($1.84 million), which GSK acknowledged “is below the current CEO’s level … and results in the package therefore being further below the median of the agreed global biopharma group.”
But the company noted that to “achieve the agreed target of delivering a median package, this will require meaningful increases over the next few years as he develops into the role.”
There is more tied into his pay packet, which includes an on-target annual bonus that would be 150%, with a maximum of 300%. Long-term incentives include a 2026 grant that will be 7.25 times the salary, which is “consistent with the 2025 grant to the current CEO.”
“It is envisaged that this will increase to eight times salary for the 2027 grant as permitted under the policy approved at the 2025 AGM, assuming performance merits,” GSK added.
Walsmley’s 2024 package came to 10.6 million pounds ($13.4 million), which was down from 12.7 million pounds ($16 million) in 2023.
The pharma said it “is now performing to a new standard,” eyeing total sales expectations of more than 40 billion pounds ($53.8 billion) by 2031. Next year “marks the start of a pivotal new phase for GSK to deliver these outlooks.” For 2024, the pharma giant reported 31.4 billion pounds ($42.2 billion) in total revenue, a 7% increase at constant exchange rates.
“2026 is a pivotal year for GSK to define its path for the decade ahead, and I believe the right moment for new leadership,” said Walmsley in a statement. “As CEO, you hope to leave the company you love stronger than you found it and prepare for seamless succession. I’m proud to have done both—and to have created Haleon, a new world-leader in consumer health.
“I know Luke will lead them brilliantly to even greater impact for patients,” Walmsley added. “I look forward to supporting this transition and to cheering GSK’s future success as I begin my own new adventures.”
Investors approved of the move, sending GSK's stock up 3.3% to 15.33 pounds by 9:20 a.m. U.K. time on Monday morning from a 14.88 pound close Friday.