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Letter from the CEO

Despite advances in healthcare, society still faces huge unmet medical needs. R&D into new vaccines and treatments is essential to benefit patients, families and communities worldwide. This search is at the core of our business and the central responsibility issue for GSK. I am pleased with the progress we made in 2007.

Our sustained investment in R&D continued to pay off with the launch of new products that will make a real difference to global health. Our vaccine Cervarix will help to protect women worldwide against cervical cancer. We have already submitted the new vaccine for World Health Organization pre-qualification – meaning it can be used in mass vaccination programmes across the developing world where 85 per cent of cervical cancer deaths occur. Tykerb, our new breast cancer treatment holds out new hope for women affected by one of the most aggressive forms of this disease.

There was also exciting news from Phase II trials of our candidate malaria vaccine for African children. Our commitment to malaria is long-standing – scientists in GSK and our legacy companies have been working on this vaccine for over 20 years. If results continue to be successful we may see submission to regulatory authorities of the world's first malaria vaccine for children as early as 2011. We will seek to ensure this vaccine is affordable and available to all who need it.

We are celebrating ten years of our involvement in the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis and 15 years of GSK's Positive Action programme to help people living with HIV/AIDS. Both these programmes have had an enormous beneficial impact on some of the world's most disadvantaged communities. Several countries have now completed their five year lymphatic filariasis elimination plans, freeing future generations from the threat of this disfiguring and disabling disease.

Our commitment to environmental issues was strengthened with the launch of a new climate change strategy. We have committed to reducing our climate change impact and energy use by 20 per cent per unit of sales by 2010 and by 45 per cent by 2015. A lot of work is already underway to make sure we meet these challenging new targets.

Concerns about Avandia proved to be one of the year's big challenges. We have responded to these concerns by examining the data in their entirety and working collaboratively with regulators and other stakeholders. We strongly defend our product because we believe it is important that Avandia is available to support effective treatment of type 2 diabetes.

The company restructuring programme announced in 2007 will help us remain a competitive and sustainable business. These changes are necessary but have inevitably required us to reduce employee numbers. We aim to treat our employees with dignity and respect and offer a wide range of support for all affected staff.

It is the way we respond to challenges like these that demonstrates the importance of the strong value system on which our business is based. Performance with integrity is integral to GSK and is the foundation of our past and future successes.

I am proud of what GSK has achieved in my time as Chief Executive and confident that our company will continue to make a major contribution to meeting global healthcare needs now and well into the future.

 

JP Garnier
Chief Executive Officer

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