GSK Experiences Another Leadership Shakeup with Departure of U.S. Pharma Head

As GlaxoSmithKline continues to evolve its business structure under Chief Executive Officer Emma Walmsley, another leadership change is happening at the top levels. Jack Bailey, head of the companys U.S. pharmaceuticals business is stepping down at the end of the year. Bailey, who has been with GSK for about 10 years, will be replaced by Maya Martinez-Davis, who currently serves as regional president of the Latin America Region at EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Prior to her role overseeing the Latin America region for EMD Serono, Martinez-Davis helmed the company’s global oncology business. That will benefit her as GSK’s focus on oncology increases. In its announcement late Monday, GSK said Martinez-Davis “brings outstanding experience of successfully bringing new specialty care treatments to patients.” In addition to her time at EMD Serono, Martinez-Davis spent 13 years at Pfizer leading various business units around the world including oncology and vaccines. Martinez-Davis will officially join GSK in mid-September and will then take the reins of the U.S. pharmaceuticals business on Jan. 1, 2020, the company said. She joins GlaxoSmithKline six months after the company forged a deal with Merck KGaA valued at about $4 billion to develop an immunotherapy for difficult to treat cancers. GSK and Merck KGaA struck an agreement in February to collaborate on the development of M7824, an investigational bifunctional fusion protein immunotherapy that has the potential to be a treatment for difficult-to-treat cancers including non-small cell lung and biliary tract cancers.