By Maggie Fick
LONDON (Reuters) – British drugmaker GSK will no longer set diversity targets, it said on Thursday, as it became the latest company to scale back or abandon such goals in response to the U.S. president’s opposition to them.
President Donald Trump has issued a series of executive orders cutting federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes that attempt to promote opportunities for women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and other traditionally under-represented groups.
He has said the programmes are illegal and has threatened investigations into them.
In its annual report published on Thursday, GSK said it had largely met previous targets on increasing diversity in ethnicity and gender in leadership.
It also said it remained committed to operating as a responsible business with an inclusive culture, but that it would make changes “including no longer setting aspirational targets for our leadership and supplier programmes”.
“We have paused, and in some cases, stopped certain initiatives to ensure we remain compliant with the law in the countries in which we operate, including the United States,” GSK said in its report.
Rival UK drugmaker AstraZeneca said in its annual report published last week that it remained committed to its diversity and inclusion targets. A spokesperson for Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk said earlier this month that the company also remained committed to is DEI programme.
GSK on Thursday also proposed increasing the annual salary of its Chief Executive Emma Walmsley to as much as 21.6 million pounds ($27.27 million), from 10.6 million pounds ($13.38 million) in 2024.
To reach that payout under the remuneration committee’s proposed new policy, GSK’s share price would need to increase by 50%, according to the annual report.
It said Walmsley’s current pay was insufficient to reward her performance “or to provide the appropriate capacity for succession”.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot earned 14.7 million pounds in 2024 and could earn as much as 25.2 million annually under a new pay policy.
($1 = 0.7920 pounds)
(Reporting by Maggie Fick; editing by Barbara Lewis)
