Andrew Witty, president of GlaxoSmithKline PLC's European pharmaceuticals division, will succeed Jean-Pierre Garnier as chief executive officer in May, the company announced yesterday.
Witty, 43, who was picked over two other internal candidates, joined the company in 1985 and has held his current job since 2003.
"Andrew's appointment follows a rigorous selection process by the board of directors," board chairman Sir Christopher Gent said.
The two other frontrunners for the job were Chris Viehbacher, head of Glaxo's US business, and David Stout, the pharmaceuticals division chief, according to people close to the company.
Witty's win may now lead to their departure, analysts said.
"Glaxo might lose both. I would be very surprised if Stout didn't move on. The best way of keeping Viehbacher may be to let Stout go and then promote Viehbacher," said Paul Diggle of Nomura Code Securities.
Witty has extensive experience working in many parts of the world, including developed and developing markets, as well as the US and Europe.
Garnier had originally been due to step down this month, when he turns 60, but the board last year extended his contract until May, so that he could oversee the rollout of key new products.
Garnier took charge of the company following the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham that created it in 2000.
Witty takes over the world's second-largest drugmaker, behind US-based Pfizer Inc, at a testing time.
Glaxo boasts one of the largest pipelines of experimental drugs in the industry but many of its current blockbusters are losing patent protection and the group has been hit hard this year by safety concerns over diabetes pill Avandia.
With the shares falling 12 percent in the past five months, Glaxo has faced growing calls to improve investor returns. The company decided in July to nearly triple the share buyback program to ?12 billion (US$24.4 billion) -- yet some investors want more radical action, such as the divestment of the lucrative consumer health business.
Garnier's departure marks a further changing of the guard with the top management ranks of Europe's drug industry.
Last year, David Brennan replaced Tom McKillop as CEO of AstraZeneca Plc, Glaxo's smaller British rival.
In continental Europe, Gerard Le Fur took over from Jean-Francois Dehecq as CEO of France's Sanofi-Aventis SA in January and next March Severin Schwan will replace Franz Humer as CEO of Swiss-based Roche Holding AG.
The move will leave Novartis AG's Daniel Vasella as the longest-serving CEO at a the head of a major European drugmaker by the middle of next year. Vasella said last month he did not plan to step down any time soon.
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