Slaoui, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, was chairman of the board of directors of Galvani Bioelectronics, a joint venture between GSK and Verily Life Sciences.
He left GSK in 2017 and worked in venture capital before the Trump administration hired him in May 2020 to lead Operation Warp Speed, his effort to accelerate the development of vaccines, therapies and tests for coronavirus to the market. When he took the job, Slaoui had a seat on the board of the vaccine developer Moderna and owned about $ 2.4 million in shares of Moderna he sold to lead the government’s venture.
The former pharmaceutical executive told POLITICO at the end of last year that he would leave the Warp Speed project after assisting your transition into the hands of Biden officers. The government has since abandoned the name Warp Speed because of its association with Trump.
“I don’t want my resignation to have anything to do with the new government. I have more affinity with the new government than with the current one,” said Slaoui, who is a registered Democrat at the time. “It doesn’t have to be black and white. I can remain available when necessary.”
He took on a reduced role as a consultant before leaving weeks for the new administration.
In her letter to the GSK team, Walmsley – one of the few women at the top of a large pharmaceutical company – said she chose to write openly “because these issues are deeply important to me”.
She continued: “Protecting the woman who came forward and her privacy has been a critical priority all along. This will continue. I respect and admire your courage and strength. Lately, I have spent many nights putting myself in her shoes. More than anything, it simply shouldn’t have happened. “