GSK chief Emma Walmsley sees pay raise amid ‘landmark’ year

GSK chief Emma Walmsley saw a slight pay raise amid what she called a “landmark year” for the company, including the spinout of its consumer health unit Haleon.

The CEO took home roughly £8.45 million in 2022 (nearly $10.3 million), up from £8.2 million the year prior. That includes a £37,000 salary boost and an added £868,000 in bonus money compared to 2021, according to a recent report.

However, her pay package continues to lag behind other pharma chiefs, including fellow UK-based AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, whose pay package totaled £15.3 million (more than $18.6 million) in 2022. American pharma chiefs tend to take home heftier pay packages, such as AbbVie CEO Rick Gonzalez, who brought in $26.2 million.

Walmsley’s earnings eclipsed Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan’s this year, with his compensation totaling roughly 8.4 million Swiss francs ($9 million), down from 11.2 million Swiss francs ($12 million) in 2021.

Meanwhile, GSK’s former R&D chief Hal Barron brought home nearly $7.2 million last year, including a base salary of more than $1.3 million.

Tony Wood

Under Tony Wood, the new head of R&D, GSK has promised to double down on vaccines, particularly mRNA technology platforms, an RSV candidate for older adults, and a Phase III meningitis program, the company said on its most recent earnings call.

“More broadly, you know, two-thirds of our pipeline now is in infectious diseases and HIV,” Walmsley said on the call. She noted that the company is still committed to oncology, though it’s a small part of the current business.

The company said it would also spend more on its PD-1 blocker Jemperli and other early-stage immuno-oncology drugs, as well as experimental therapies for severe asthma and chronic hepatitis B.

“(Business development) and capital allocation will be a strong focus in 2023 and beyond,” Walsmley added.

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