Glaxo shares edge higher after Elliott calls on pharma to name new directors

Elliott Management has called on British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline to name new directors to its board and begin a process that will determine the future of its embattled CEO, Emma Walmsley. GSK "has underperformed every single peer over nearly every conceivable timeframe," the activist investor said in a 17-page letter on Thursday, noting that the group "has dropped from being the third-largest pharma company to the eleventh-largest one" in the last 15 years. Elliott Management said that with "superior execution" it sees a 45% upside in GSK's share price in the lead up to the spin-off of its consumer drugs business, planned for mid-2022. Shares in GSK GSK, +0.77% rose as much as 1.3% in London trading early Thursday, while its U.S.-listed shares GSK, -0.33% ticked up 0.5% in the U.S. premarket.