July 2012 Archives

Earlier this week, my colleague, Emily, and I took the train from Philadelphia to Washington, DC to visit two of the locations of our Science in the Summer program (and to investigate whether higher humidity was possible; it was). Science in the Summer is our free, hands-on, science program for elementary and middle school kids. During our trip, we learned a little chemistry ourselves while we watched. The kids were having a blast (and hoping to create a blast-off by inserting dry ice into a balloon).

Emily and I were escorted by our partners at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the organization that administers Science in the Summer in DC. It's the organization behind Science Magazine, so they know science. And of course our many of our colleagues in the R&D labs at GSK know science. In fact, Science in the Summer was started 26 years ago in the Philadelphia area when one of our scientists, Dr. Virginia Cunningham, gathered up extra lab supplies and started teaching kids in her community. She recruited a colleague, then another, and was able to secure corporate funding. Today, Science in the Summer continues in Philadelphia, and is also offered in Research Triangle Park, NC; Pittsburgh, and now DC, which was added this year.

For more than six years, GSK has supported NC Prevention Partners Zone Health program.  This program helps schools promote good nutrition and physical activity for students, faculty and staff. If you live in North Carolina like I do, you may have seen public service announcements running on ABC11-TV that encourage families to improve their health by making simple changes--such as snacking on fruit instead of cookies, and playing ball instead of playing video games. These PSAs, sponsored by GSK in partnership with NC Prevention Partners, are running from July through October. And speaking of running, you would have seen my kids running around in the spot!

Kendall and Lucas, my 12 and 10-year olds, were so excited to be part of these spots - especially when they found out that all they had to do was "act naturally". For weeks prior to filming, all they could talk about was being on television and becoming famous!

On the big day, we started filming inside a house.  Kendall's hand was filmed taking fruit from a bowl, and after a few takes, she mastered the art of picking up an orange slowly for the camera.  Lucas showed his expertise playing a Nintendo game in the living room before a baseball glove was placed in his hands. Outside on the grass, Lucas was in his element playing catch. Then, both Kendall and Lucas played basketball for the camera. At the end of the day, both remarked how easy "acting" was.

I was so proud to have my children help promote health through physical activity and healthy eating. Especially since the PSA segments will be shown during the hot summer months when being active is not the first thing on everyone's minds. But building a healthy community is important all year round.     

Today, the US government announced that it's reached a $3 billion settlement with GSK regarding several long-standing investigations. We cooperated with the Department of Justice in these investigations and, in November 2011, announced an agreement in principle with the Government to conclude these investigations.

As of today, the final settlement is complete. Although the activities covered by this settlement largely occurred years ago, we must learn from the past. And we have. In my opinion, the picture of our company portrayed in these charges does NOT reflect who we are today. We've always been a good company--rooted in values. But the expectations of our industry--and the people who work in it--have changed.

In the last few years, we've publicly demonstrated--in our words and actions--who we are as a company. That we wish to live up to and exceed the expectations of those who watch us and work with us. Today, we are reaffirming our commitment to do just that.

We've changed the way we promote our products and work with our customers. Going forward we'll institute further changes, including greater standardization in our operations and additional compliance training. In fact, we started making changes before we were asked by the government, including compensating our sales representatives on the value they bring to their customers, not on sales targets. We're making our medicines and vaccines more available and affordable to people who need them, regardless of where they live or their ability to pay. These are just some of the ways we've changed the way we work to focus on bringing the right medicines to the right patients wherever they happen to be.

GSK is a company of 97,000 people who dedicate their lives to delivering quality medicines that benefit millions of people. Is there more we can do? Absolutely--and we're always looking to improve.