Hal Barron, a veteran life science executive who currently is president of Google-funded startup Calico, will join GlaxoSmith Klein as chief scientific officer and president of research and development as well as become a member of the GSK board. He didn’t come cheaply.

GSK will open an R&D office in San Francisco where Barron will divide his time between duties there and at GSK offices in the U.K.

The drug giant, which maintains an R&D operation in RTP and a manufacturing plant in Zebulon, says it will pay Barron:

  • $1.7 million in annual salary
  • A bonus of $1.7 million
  • $4.25 million in “performance shares”

​Barron starts his new job and joins the board as of Jan. 1.

“Scientific innovation must be at the heart of GSK and with the appointment of Hal, we are bringing one of the world’s foremost R&D leaders to the company,” said GSK CEO Emma Walmsley.

“Hal has exceptional experience and a strong track record of developing significant new medicines from his time at Roche and Genentech; whilst at Calico he has helped build a research organization that uses cutting-edge technologies in drug discovery and development. He is also very well known for his integrity, for being a clinician who is committed to always doing the best he can for patients and for building exceptional teams.”

In an interview with Reuters, Walmsely described the hire as “very significant.”

“This underscores the absolute, unequivocal prioritization I‘m placing on improving our performance in our biggest business, which is pharma,” she said. “Pharma R&D and the pipeline is at the heart of that.”

Drug development background

Califor focuses on research into lifespan biology. Previous roles include CMO at head of product development at Roche and CMO as well as senior vice president of development at Genetech.

“The fusion of science and technology is fast transforming pharmaceuticals R&D. With Hal, we have a new R&D leader who will drive the changes and choices we need to make to be successful in this new environment, and as we look to build the next wave of growth for the company,” Walmsley said.

GSK pointed out that Barron was involved in development of several drugs:

  • Xolair (Asthma)
  • Avastin (multiple tumour types)
  • Tarceva (Lung Cancer)
  • Lucentis (AMD)
  • Actemra (Rheumatology)
  • Zelboraf and Erivedge (Melanoma)
  • Perjeta and Kadcyla (Breast Cancer)

“GSK is a company with a rich history of innovation, with many talented scientists who care deeply about translating great science into therapies that make a meaningful difference for patients,” Barron said. “I believe there is a significant opportunity to accelerate this effort and am looking forward to joining Emma and the team on this mission.”

Barron replaces Patrick Vallance, who has been named chief scientific adviser to the British government.