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GlaxoSmithKline

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Companies

   GlaxoSmithKline
       Type     Public ( LSE: GSK
                NYSE: GSK)
     Founded    2000, by merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham
   Headquarters Brentford, London, United Kingdom
    Key people  Sir Chris Gent, Chairman
                Jean-Pierre Garnier, Chief Executive
                Julian Heslop, Chief Financial Officer
     Industry   Pharmaceutical
     Products   www.gsk.com/products
     Revenue    £23.2 billion ( 2006)
    Net income  £7.8 billion ( 2006)
    Employees   Over 100,728 ( 2005)
     Website    www.gsk.com

   GlaxoSmithKline plc ( LSE: GSK NYSE: GSK) is a British based
   pharmaceutical, biologicals, and healthcare company. GSK is a
   research-based company with a wide portfolio of pharmaceutical products
   covering anti-infectives, central nervous system (CNS), respiratory,
   gastro-intestinal/metabolic, oncology and vaccines products. It also
   has a Consumer Healthcare operation comprising leading oral healthcare
   products, nutritional drinks and over the counter (OTC) medicines.

Corporate profile

   As the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world (after
   Pfizer), the company had sales of £23.2 billion and made a profit of
   £7.8 billion in 2006. It employs around 110,000 people worldwide,
   including over 40,000 in sales and marketing. Its global headquarters
   are GSK House in Brentford, London, United Kingdom, with its United
   States operations jointly based in Philadelphia and Research Triangle
   Park (RTP) in North Carolina and its consumer products division based
   in the Pittsburgh suburb of Moon Township, Pennsylvania.

   The company is listed on the London and New York stock exchanges. The
   majority of its activity is in the United States, although the company
   has a presence in almost 70 countries.

   In 2006, pharmaceutical sales accounted for £20.08 billion (or 87%) of
   GSK's total sales. Sales are based around a broad range of products
   with the most successful (starting with highest sales) being:
     * Seretide ( Advair in US), a combination of the bronchodilator
       salmeterol and the steroid fluticasone
     * Avandia (rosiglitazone), a PPAR-gamma agonist
     * Lamictal (lamotrigine), an anticonvulsant used to treat various
       types of epilepsy and type I bipolar disorder
     * Wellbutrin (bupropion), an anti-depressant
     * Zofran (ondansetron hydrochloride), used to prevent nausea and
       vomiting associated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer
     * Valtrex (valacyclovir), an antiviral drug used in the management of
       herpes simplex and herpes zoster (shingles)
     * Coreg (carvedilol), a non-selective beta blocker indicated in the
       treatment of mild to moderate congestive heart failure
     * Imigran / Imitrex (sumatriptan), a triptan drug including a
       sulfonamide group for the treatment of migraine

Corporate governance

   Current members of the board of directors of GlaxoSmithKline are:
     * Chris Gent (Non-Executive Chairman);
     * Dr Jean-Pierre Garnier (Chief Executive Officer);
     * Lawrence Culp (Non-Executive Director);
     * Sir Crispin Davis (Non-Executive Director);
     * Julian Heslop (Chief Financial Officer);
     * Deryck Maughan (Non-Executive Director);
     * Ian Prosser (Senior Independent Non-Executive Director);
     * Ronaldo Schmitz (Non-Executive Director);
     * Moncef Slaoui (Chairman, Research & Development);
     * Tom De Swaan (Independent Non-Executive Director);
     * Robert Wilson (Non-Executive Director);
     * Daniel Podolsky (Non-Executive Director).

   Paul Allaire (Non-executive Direcor)- Member of Council on Foreign
   Relations and Bilderberg Steering Committee.

Merger history

   There are four main companies in the history of GSK: Burroughs Wellcome
   & Company, Glaxo Laboratories, Beecham, and SmithKline and French.

   In 1880, Burroughs Wellcome & Company was founded. Wellcome Tropical
   Researches Laboratories was opened in 1902. McDougall & Robertson Inc.
   was bought by the Wellcome Company to be more active in animal health.
   Also, the production center was moved from New York to North Carolina
   in 1970 and the following year another research centre was built.

   Glaxo was founded in Bunnythorpe, New Zealand. Originally a baby food
   manufacturer processing local milk into an early baby food by the same
   name, which was sold in the 1930s under the slogan Glaxo builds bonny
   babies. Still visible on the main street of Bunnythorpe is a derelict
   dairy factory (factory for drying and processing cows' milk into
   powder) with the original Glaxo logo clearly visible, but nothing to
   indicate that this was the start of a major multinational.

   Glaxo became Glaxo Laboratories, and opened new units in London in
   1935. Glaxo Laboratories bought two companies called Joseph Nathan and
   Allen & Hanburys in 1947 and 1958 respectively. After it bought Meyer
   Laboratories, it started to play an important role in US market. In
   1983, Glaxo Inc. moved to Research Triangle Park (US
   headquarters/research) and Zebulon (US manufacturing) in North
   Carolina. To be stronger in the medicine market, Burroughs Wellcome and
   Glaxo, Inc merged in 1995. The new name of the company was
   GlaxoWellcome. Same year, GlaxoWellcome opened Medicine Research Centre
   in England. Three years later GlaxoWellcome bought Polfa Poznan Company
   in Poland.

   Beecham opened its first factory in St Helens, Lancashire, England for
   rapid production of medicines in 1859. Beecham Inc. bought companies
   for various products. It added Lucozade energy drink and Macleans tooth
   paste to its product chain in 1938. The following year it added hair
   products for men by buying another company. In 1943 it decided to focus
   more on improving its research. It built Beecham Research Laboratories
   and six years later it bought C L Bencard Inc. which specialized in
   vaccines.
   The GSK Headquarters in Brentford.
   The GSK Headquarters in Brentford.

   In 1830, John K. Smith opened its first pharmacy in Philadelphia. Over
   the years Smith, Kline and Company favorably amalgamated with the
   French, Richard and Company because of their successful management
   decisions. It changed its name to Smith Kline & French Laboratories to
   more focus on researching in 1929. Years later, Smith Kline & French
   Laboratories opened a new laboratory in Philadelphia; furthermore, it
   bought a laboratory called Norden Laboratories which was doing research
   into animal health to benefit their research in various other areas.

   To move on this path, Smith Kline & French Laboratories bought
   Recherche et Industrie Therapeutiques in 1963 to focus on vaccines. The
   company also wanted to spread all over the world to capture shares in
   various medicine markets. Because of this, Smith Kline & French
   Laboratories bought 7 more laboratories in Canada and US six years
   later. In 1982, it bought Allergan which was making products about eye
   and skin. It also merged with Beckman Inc. After this merge, it changed
   its name to SmithKline Beckman.

   In 1988, SmithKline Beckman bought its biggest competitor,
   International Clinical Laboratories, and enlarged by 50%. The next
   year, Beecham and SmithKline Beckman became one and changed the name of
   the company to SmithKline Beecham plc. The headquarters of the company
   were then moved to England. To improve the R&D in US, SmithKline
   Beecham bought a new research center in 1995. Yet another new research
   centre was opened in New Frontiers Science Park two years later.

   The latest merge occurred in 2000 with GlaxoWellcome. Since 2000, the
   name of the company has been GlaxoSmithKline.

Work in the community

   For many years now GSK has been a leading contributor to a
   multinational government and industry alliance to rid the world of
   lymphatic filariasis ( elephantiasis). LF threatens over one billion
   people in 83 countries. Approximately 120 million people are infected
   with the parasites, 40 million of whom have clinical symptoms of the
   disease. The Global Alliance to Eliminate LF was formed with the
   support of the pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Merck to
   help countries with LF respond. GSK has donated over 440 million
   albendazole tablets to date, which serve as a cornerstone of the
   program.

   JP Garnier, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline added, “The Egyptian data shows that
   we can now eliminate a disease that has plagued the world for
   centuries. We remain committed to donating as much albendazole as
   required to eliminate this disabling disease, but ultimate success will
   depend on continued long-term commitments by all partners across the
   globe.”

   In addition Glaxo has been short-listed for awards such as The
   Worldaware Business Award for its work to eliminate malaria in Kenya.

Global locations

     * Global Pharmaceutical Operations headquarters in Brentford, United
       Kingdom with US operations based at Franklin Plaza in Philadelphia,
       Pennsylvania and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
     * Consumer Products headquarters in Moon Township, Pennsylvania
     * Major R&D sites in Greenford,United Kingdom; Stevenage, United
       Kingdom; Harlow, United Kingdom; Ware, United Kingdom; Beckenham,
       United Kingdom; Verona, Italy; Zagreb, Croatia; Evreux, France;
       Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; and Upper Merion and Upper
       Providence, Pennsylvania
     * Major manufacturing sites for prescription products in Ware, United
       Kingdom; Evreux, France; Montrose, United Kingdom; Barnard Castle,
       United Kingdom; Crawley, United Kingdom; Bristol, Tennessee; King
       of Prussia, Pennsylvania; Zebulon, North Carolina; Jurong Singapore
       and Cork Ireland; Parma, Italy.
     * Major manufacturing sites for consumer products in Maidenhead,
       United Kingdom; Cork, Ireland; Mississauga, Ontario; Aiken, South
       Carolina; Clifton, New Jersey; Memphis, Tennessee; and St. Louis,
       Missouri
     * GSK has a presence in over 72 countries

Diversity

   GlaxoSmithKline was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working
   Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine and was recognized by the
   International Charter for its efforts. GSK also received a perfect
   score of 100 percent from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2005
   Corporate Equality Index, an annual report card of corporate America's
   treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) employees,
   customers and investors.

Controversy

     * At the AGM on 19 May 2003, GSK shareholders rejected a motion
       regarding a £22 million pay and benefits package for Jean-Pierre
       Garnier. This was the first time such a rebellion by shareholders
       against a major British company has occurred, but was regarded as a
       possible turning point against other so-called " fat cat" deals
       within executive pay structure.

     * The company has been targeted by animal rights activists because it
       is a customer of the controversial animal-testing company,
       Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS). HLS has been the subject since 1999
       of an international campaign by Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty and
       the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), ever since footage shot covertly
       by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which was shown on
       British television, showed staff punching, kicking, screaming and
       laughing at the animals in their care. On September 7, 2005, the
       ALF detonated a bomb containing two litres of fuel and four pounds
       of explosives on the doorstop of the Buckinghamshire home of Paul
       Blackburn, GSK's corporate controller, causing minor damage.

     * In November 2005, AIDS Healthcare Foundation accused the company of
       boosting its short-term monopoly profit by not increasing
       production of the anti-AIDS drug AZT despite a surge in demand,
       hence creating a shortage that affected many AIDS patients in
       Africa. GSK announced that it had halted clinical trials of the
       CCR5 entry inhibitor, aplaviroc (GW873140), in HIV-infected,
       treatment-naive patients because of concerns about severe
       hepatotoxicity. In June of 2006 GSK said it was further cutting, by
       about 30%, the not-for-profit prices it charges for some of these
       medicines in the world's poorest countries.

     * Pregnant women and those who might become pregnant should avoid
       taking the antidepressant Paxil because of a high risk of birth
       defects, according to a committee of obstetricians who published
       their opinion in the December 2006 issue of the journal Obstetrics
       & Gynecology. The obstetric practice committee of the American
       College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said pregnant women
       should not take Paxil because two previous studies found that the
       drug posed up to double the risk of heart defects in fetuses.
       Neonatal withdrawal symptoms from Paxil have also been documented
       from mothers taking Paxil during pregnancy.

Legal

   In 2003 GSK signed a corporate integrity agreement and paid $88 million
   in a civil fine for overcharging Medicaid for the antidepressant Paxil,
   and nasal-allergy spray Flonase. Later that year GSK also ran afoul of
   the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and was facing a demand for $7.8
   billion in backdated taxes and interest, the highest in IRS history.

   On September 12, 2006 GSK settled the largest tax dispute in IRS
   history agreeing to pay $3.1 billion. At issue in the case were Zantac
   and the other Glaxo Group heritage products sold from 1989-2005. The
   case was about an area of taxation dealing with intracompany "transfer
   pricing" -- determining the share of profit attributable to the US
   subsidiaries of GSK and subject to tax by the IRS. Taxes for large
   multi-divisional companies are paid to revenue authorities based on the
   profits reported in particular tax jurisdictions, so how profits were
   allocated among various legacy Glaxo divisions based on the functions
   they performed was central to the dispute in this case.

   On December 22, 2006, a US court decided in Hoorman, et al. v.
   SmithKline Beecham Corp that individuals who purchased Paxil(R) or
   Paxil CR(TM) ( paroxetine) for a minor child may be eligible for
   benefits under a $63.8 million Proposed Settlement. The lawsuit won the
   argument that GSK promoted Paxil(R) or Paxil CR(TM) for prescription to
   children and adolescents while withholding and concealing material
   information about the medication's safety and effectiveness for minors.

   The lawsuit stemmed from a consumer advocate protest against Paroxetine
   manufacturer GSK. Since the FDA approved paroxetine in 1992,
   approximately 5,000 U.S. citizens – and thousands more worldwide – have
   sued GSK. Most of these people feel they were not sufficiently warned
   in advance of the drug's side effects and addictive properties.

   According to the Paxil Protest website, http://www.paxilprotest.com,
   hundreds more lawsuits have been filed against GSK. The Paxil Protest
   website was launched August 8, 2005 to offer both information about the
   protest and information on Paxil previously unavailable to the public.
   Just three weeks after its launch, the site received more than a
   quarter of a million hits. The original Paxil Protest website was
   removed from the internet in 2006. It is understood that the action to
   take down the site was undertaken as part of a confidentiality
   agreement or 'gagging order' which the owner of the site entered into
   as part of a settlement of his action against GlaxoSmithKline.
   (However, in March 2007, the website Seroxat Secrets discovered that an
   archive of Paxil Protest site was still available on the internet via
   Archive.org) Gagging orders are common in such cases and can extend to
   documents that defendants wish to remain hidden from the public.
   However in some cases, such documents can become public at a later
   date, such as those made public by Dr. Peter Breggin in February of
   2006.

   In January 2007, according to the Seroxat Secrets website, the national
   group litigation in the United Kingdom, on behalf of several hundred
   people who allege withdrawal reactions through their use of the drug
   Seroxat, against GlaxoSmithKline plc, moved a step closer to the High
   Court in London, with the confirmation that Public Funding had been
   reinstated following a decision by the Public Interest Appeal Panel.
   The issue at the heart of this particular action claims Seroxat is a
   defective drug in that it has a propensity to cause a withdrawal
   reaction. Hugh James Solicitors have confirmed this news.

   In February 2007, the Serious Fraud Office in the UK launched an
   investigation into allegations of GSK being involved in the discredited
   oil-for-food sanctions regime in Iraq. They are accused of paying
   bribes to Saddam Hussein's regime.

   On March 27, 2007, GSK pleaded guilty in an Auckland District Court to
   15 charges relating to misleading conduct brought against them under
   the Fair Trading Act by New Zealand's Commerce Commission. The charges
   related to a popular blackcurrant fruit drink Ribena which the company
   had lead consumers to believe contained high levels of vitamin C. As
   part of a school science project, two 14-year-old school girls (Anna
   Devathasan and Jenny Suo) from Pakuranga College in Auckland (New
   Zealand) discovered that ready-to-drink juice sold in 100ml containers
   contained very little vitamin C. Approaches by the two teens to the
   company didn't resolve the issue but after the matter was publicised on
   a national consumer affairs television show (Fair Go) the matter came
   to the attention of the Commerce Commission (a government funded
   'consumer watch-dog'). The commission's testing found that
   ready-to-drink Ribena contained no detectable vitamin C.

   The company was fined $217,000 for the 15 charges. The number of
   charges was reduced from 88 and covered a period from March 2002 to
   March 2006. GSK maintains that it did not intend to mislead consumers
   and that the advertising claims were based on testing procedures that
   have since been changed. It was ordered to run an advertising campaign
   to provide the facts after it admitted misleading the public about the
   vitamin C component in its Ribena drink. Through its lawyer, Adam Ross,
   the company accepted Commerce Commission allegations that claims that
   ready-to-drink Ribena contained 7mg of vitamin C per 100ml, or 44 per
   cent of the recommended daily intake, were incorrect. The company also
   agreed television advertising claiming the blackcurrants in Ribena had
   four times the vitamin C of oranges, while literally true, were likely
   to mislead consumers about the relative levels of vitamin C in Ribena.

Sport and Trivia

     * The Glaxo Smith Kline site at Barnard Castle is the home to Glaxo
       FC, a football club founded by some of the workers there. However,
       the team is now made up mainly of players who do not work at Glaxo.
     * The film, Spy Game, starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt, was
       filmed at Glaxo's facilities in Stevenage, which had temporary
       signage added to make it appear as if the building was the
       headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency .
     * The film, Proof a 2005 film starring Anthony Hopkins, Gwyneth
       Paltrow, and Jake Gyllenhaal was filmed at Glaxo's facilities in
       Stevenage. .

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