GlaxoSmithKline : Dominique Limet to step down as CEO of ViiV Healthcare; Deborah Waterhouse to succeed him

After seven years as CEO of ViiV Healthcare, Dr Dominique Limet will step down at the end of March 2017. Deborah Waterhouse, currently Senior Vice President Primary Care, GSK US Pharmaceuticals, will succeed him, and will take up the CEO Designate role on 1 January 2017.

Dominique started his career as a General Practitioner in France. He joined GSK in 1996 from Ciba Geigy, where he held various marketing and management positions. In 2000, Dominique was appointed General Manager of GSK France. He then became SVP, Southern & Eastern Europe Area Director and then Head of GSK Personalised Medicine Strategy.

Deborah joined GSK in 1996 and is currently SVP Primary Care in US Pharmaceuticals, prior to which she led the US Vaccines business. She brings a wealth of experience to ViiV Healthcare having lived and worked in Europe, Asia and the USA and a strong track record of performance in both specialty and primary care. She led the HIV business in the UK before heading the HIV Centre of Excellence for Pharma Europe, and held international roles as General Manager of Australia and New Zealand and SVP Central and Eastern Europe.

Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer, GSK, said: 'I want to thank Dominique for the success achieved under his leadership. Since he became CEO of ViiV Healthcare at its creation seven years ago, the business has successfully launched new medicines, established an innovative pipeline and built a strong reputation with healthcare professionals and the HIV community. With these foundations in place, Dominique leaves ViiV Healthcare in a great position. Emma and I are delighted that Deborah will be his successor. She is a dynamic leader who has a real passion to deliver for patients and customers and we are confident that she will continue to develop the business successfully to make a difference for people living with HIV, their families and society as a whole.'

Dominique Limet said: 'Establishing and then leading ViiV Healthcare for the past seven years has been an incredible honour and extremely fulfilling personally. I have had the pleasure to work with an exceptional team and am proud of how the business has grown to its current position as a leader in HIV therapy. We have delivered scientific innovation, while listening and better understanding the needs of people living with HIV, allowing us to both do good and do well as a business. The future looks extremely promising for ViiV Healthcare.'

David Redfern, Chairman of ViiV Healthcare, said: 'Dominique has been an outstanding leader of ViiV Healthcare. He has helped to create an entirely new company at the forefront of HIV research and treatment development, with a culture that both inspires and delivers strong business performance. I have very much enjoyed working with him and wish him the very best for the future.

I also look forward to working with Deborah, a leader who is known for listening to the customer and to her teams, and someone I know is very passionate about innovation in HIV therapy and access.'

Deborah Waterhouse said: 'ViiV Healthcare has an impeccable reputation for strong performance and a culture that thrives on challenge. I'm honoured to have the opportunity to lead such an exciting endeavour, and to build on the advances that Dominique and the ViiV Healthcare organisation have made to HIV treatment and care.'

Cheryl MacDiarmid has been appointed to succeed Deborah as SVP US Pharmaceuticals Primary Care. Cheryl has served as VP US Primary Care Sales since early 2015 and been instrumental in shaping the US Primary Care strategy, delivering performance and renewing the culture of patient and customer focus. She brings 20 years of deep experience in establishing key brands and building businesses in the US and Canada, and is known for creating and leading engaged, high-performing teams.

GSK - one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies - is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com.

ViiV Healthcare - a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV. Shionogi joined in October 2012. The company's aim is to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and new HIV medicines, as well as support communities affected by HIV.

For more information on the company, its management, portfolio, pipeline, and commitment, please visit www.viivhealthcare.com.

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

GSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described under Item 3.D 'Risk factors' in the company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2015.