ViiV's Waterhouse exits to take the CEO job at CSL
Australian biopharma group CSL has named Deborah Waterhouse as its new chief executive, on the same day her departure from the same role at ViiV Healthcare was announced.
Waterhouse is due to take the helm of CSL on 1st February next year, around a year after Paul McKenzie abruptly departed the company after only a brief tenure as CEO, to be replaced on an interim basis by Gordon Naylor.
The Melbourne-based company has been facing some challenges following its $11.7 billion acquisition of Swiss biotech Vifor in 2022, widely seen as being overpriced, which has been followed by billions of dollars in asset write-downs and impairments and forced a reset of the group's strategy, accompanied by sweeping job losses.
Waterhouse will also join the company as it faces other pressures, such as falling vaccination rates in the US – US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has said that flu vaccinations will no longer be compulsory for military personnel, for example – as well as a slow rollout of haemophilia B gene therapy Hemgenix (etranacogene dezaparvovec) and R&D setbacks.
R&D disappointments include dropping kidney transplant drug clazakizumab from development and abandoning efforts to add some new indications for anticoagulant Kcentra and muscle inflammation drug Hizentra, according to an AFR report.
Waterhouse will be the first woman to lead CSL, and will continue to be based in the UK as she tries to consolidate the first signs of a recovery in CSL's share price after the group predicted a return to growth in 2027.
"Waterhouse is a proven commercial leader with more than 25 years' experience managing complex global specialty pharma companies across the US, the UK, continental Europe, and Australia," said CSL in a statement.
She has been CEO of ViiV, the HIV-focused company majority owned by GSK, since 2017, and currently also serves as president of GSK Global Health. The bulk of her career has been spent at GSK, with a 20-year stint that included leadership of the group's vaccines and primary care businesses in the US and the role of general manager for Australia and New Zealand.
Her two roles will be taken by Lynn Baxter, currently president of GSK Europe, effective 1st November, said ViiV in a statement.
Waterhouse said it had been "a privilege to lead ViiV Healthcare and GSK Global Health and work alongside so many talented colleagues, partners, and advocates."
She added: "CSL is one of the great companies in our industry, and I saw what it means to Australia when I lived and worked in Melbourne. The foundations are strong. My job is to continue the momentum and evolve the path into reliable growth for patients and shareholders."
