GSK announced that Brian McNamara, is appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of GSK’s Consumer Healthcare division effective immediately.

He succeeds Emma Walmsley who was last week appointed GSK CEO Designate succeeding Sir Andrew Witty as GSK CEO. In his new role, Brian will report to Andrew Witty until Emma becomes CEO. He will join GSK’s Corporate Executive Team effective immediately and will continue as a member of the Board of the Consumer Healthcare Joint Venture with Novartis. He will be based in the UK.

Brian is currently Head of Europe & Americas at GSK Consumer Healthcare. He joined GSK from Novartis following completion of GSK’s three-part transaction with Novartis and has been a member of GSK’s Consumer Healthcare Executive Team since 2015.

Prior to joining GSK, Brian spent eleven years at Novartis and sixteen years at Procter & Gamble.

Sir Andrew Witty, GSK CEO, said: “With his significant experience and expertise, Brian is the clear choice to build on the current momentum we are seeing in our business and fully maximise the future opportunities we have with our brands and to deliver the benefits of the integration.”

Brian McNamara said: “I am very excited about the opportunity to lead the Consumer Healthcare business at GSK.  We have an amazing opportunity ahead of us to deliver on our promise to consumers and grow our business to further extend our position as a leading, global consumer healthcare company”.