Stout Out at Glaxo, But Viehbacher Re-Ups

Source: The Wall Street Journal Online

When is $4 million not enough? When you’re David Stout, president of pharmaceuticals at GlaxoSmithKline, apparently.

Stout, as loyal Health Blog Readers will recall, recently lost The GlaxoSmithKline CEO Derby to Andrew Witty, who has been president of European pharmaceuticals for the company.

A few days ago, we noted that Glaxo had reportedly offered Stout (pictured) and Chris Viehbacher (another horse in the Derby, and current president of U.S. pharmaceuticals) £2 million retention packages (or about four-million dollars for American Stout) and seats on the board if they’d stick around. The figure, unconfirmed by the company, came from the Times of London.

In a hot-off-the-press release, Glaxo just said Viehbacher took the deal and that he’ll be named an executive director, as will Witty. Stout, who is in his mid-50s, will leave the company in February, according to the release. Glaxo didn’t say where Stout’s headed.

Update: Dow Jones Newswires notes comments by Nomura Code analyst Paul Diggle, who calls Stout’s departure “a pity, but not a surprise.” Diggle adds: “Stout was very much ‘JP’s man’ and having been beaten to the top job by Witty his future role was unclear.”