Dr. Moncef Slaoui, a longtime GlaxoSmithKline executive who currently heads vaccine development and who led research and development for the drug giant earlier in his career, is retiring.
GSK, which has a large presence in the Triangle, disclosed the retirement decision Tuesday.
Slaoui, whose current title is Chairman, Vaccines, and is a GSK board member, will retire as of June 30, 2017. He will leave the board as of March 31, 2017.
Slaoui joined GSK in 1988 and was named to the board in 2006.
In a statement, Philip Hampton, Chairman of GSK (NYSE: GSK), praised Slaoui:
“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Moncef for his great contribution to the company. He has been personally involved in the discovery and development of some of our most innovative vaccines and spearheaded the overhaul of GSK’s pharmaceutical R&D. GSK has been fortunate to benefit from Moncef’s considerable scientific and technical experience over many years and I’m pleased that during his remaining time, he will continue to provide this valuable expertise to the Company.”
Bio: Dr Moncef Slaoui
Source: GSK
Moncef is the Chairman of Vaccines and has been responsible for the global vaccines business through its integration of the Novartis vaccine acquisition in 2015. Prior to his current role, Moncef served as Chairman, GSK R&D for eight years. During his tenure at GSK, Moncef has also had responsibility for the franchise commercial organization, focused on new product launches and lifecycle management. He continues to oversee GSK’s venture capital arm, SR One, and other venture capital partnerships, as well as its groundbreaking Bioelectronics R&D strategy. He is a member of the Corporate Executive Team and Board of Directors.
In his position as Chairman, R&D, Moncef spearheaded a profound overhaul of GSK’s pharmaceutical R&D, resulting in a substantial improvement in productivity, with a late-stage pipeline comprising more than 30 Phase III programs and a totally redesigned discovery organization comprising 38 highly focused and accountable Discovery Performance Units. In his role as leader of the Franchise Commercial Operation, he spearheaded a deep transformation of GSK’s launch and commercial strategy capabilities.
In his previous position in GSK Biologicals, he engineered the development of a robust vaccines pipeline, including Rotarix to prevent infantile gastroenteritis, Synflorix to prevent Pneumococcal disease and Cervarix to prevent cervical cancer.
Moncef earned a PhD in Molecular Biology and Immunology from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, and completed postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston. He was a professor of Immunology at the University of Mons, Belgium. He has authored more than 100 scientific papers and presentations and is a member of the PhRMA Foundation Board of Directors, Advisory Board of Qatar Foundation, National Institutes of Health Advisory Committee to the Director, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization Board of Directors. A citizen of Morocco, Belgium and the USA, he is fluent in English, French and Arabic.
