GSK fires ex-Operation Warp Speed chief Moncef Slaoui over ‘substantiated’ sexual harassment claims
Moncef Slaoui, who was chief scientist for the U.S. federal government’s Covid vaccine development effort Operation Warp Speed during the Trump administration, was fired as Galvani Bioelectronics board chairman over “substantiated” sexual harassment allegations by a woman, it was announced Wednesday.
Slaoui ‘s termination by the board of Galvani majority shareholder GlaxoSmithKline came after GSK was sent a letter in February “containing allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct towards an employee of GSK by Dr. Slaoui,” GSK said in a statement.
That conduct “occurred several years ago when he was an employee of GSK,” the statement said. Slaoui had spent 30 years at GSK, overseeing vaccine development at that pharmaceuticals giant.
“Upon receipt of the letter, the GSK Board immediately initiated an investigation with an experienced law firm to investigate the allegations,” GSK said.
“The investigation of Dr. Slaoui’s conduct substantiated the allegations and is ongoing.”
“Dr. Slaoui’s behaviours are wholly unacceptable,” GSK said.
GSK CEO Emma Walmsley, in a letter to employees, revealed Slaoui’s firing, and said, “On a personal level, I am shocked and angry about all of this, but I’m resolute.”
“I want to be clear that sexual harassment is strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated,” Walmsley wrote.
She also wrote that GSK is going to remove Slaoui’s name from its research and development center in Rockville, Maryland, which will be renamed. It had been called The Slaoui Center for Vaccines Research
Walmsley also wrote that she chose to “write openly to everyone because these issues are profoundly important to me.”
“Since February, the highest levels of our company have been working to understand and address what happened,” the CEO wrote.
“Protecting the woman who came forward and her privacy has been a critical priority throughout this time. This will continue. I respect and admire her courage and strength. I’ve spent many nights lately putting myself in her shoes. More than anything, this simply should not have happened.”
Walmsley asked GSK workers to notify the company “if you have anything you want to share regarding this situation, a situation you’ve been in personally, or one you’ve been aware of.”
In its public statement, GSK said that Slaoui’s actions “represent an abuse of his leadership position, violate company policies, and are contrary to the strong values that define GSK’s culture.”
“The company expects everyone at GSK to behave in accordance with its values, especially its leaders where its standards are the highest. Sexual harassment and any abuse of leadership position are strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated.”
Slaoui has been advising the European Union on its coronavirus vaccine rollout. CNBC had reached out to the EU to request comment.
Galvani Bioelectronics is a medical research company focused on developing bioelectronic medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases. It as formed through a partnership by GSK and Verily Life Sciences previously known as Google Life Sciences. Verily is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the parent of Google.
Slaoui in January submitted his resignation as Operation Warp Speed chief advisor to the then-incoming administration of President Joe Biden.
He was criticized when he took the OWS role because of his ties to the pharmaceuticals industry.
At the time he was appointed, he was on the board of Moderna. Slaoui resigned from Moderna and also sold his shares in that company. He said he donated their increase in value during the several days he had held them while at Operation Warp Speed.
But he had refused to sell his GSK shares, calling them his retirement plan.
GSK said Wednesday that Christopher Corsico, senior vice president of development at GSK and a current member of Galvani’s board, was appointed as the new chairman of Galvani.
GSK also said that Amy Altshul, its senior vice president of legal, R&D and global commercial franchises, was appointed to the Galvani board.
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