Singapore, Feb 08, 2010: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a major pharmaceutical and healthcare player, has appointed Mr Philippe Fauchet as President of GSK Japan.

Mr Fauchet joins GSK from Sanofi Aventis where he was Senior Vice President, Business Development. He joined Sanofi in 1996, and headed up the Eastern Europe region from 1997, before becoming Vice President, Eastern Europe for Sanofi-Synthélabo in 1999. Mr Fauchet took over as head of Sanofi-Synthélabo’s Japanese operations in June 2001 and was appointed as Senior Vice President Pharmaceuticals Operations, Japan in May 2005.

He joined Roussel Uclaf in 1984, and held a number of posts in France, Japan and Korea, before becoming Vice President of the Asia-Pacific region for Hoechst Marion Roussel in 1995.

Mr Marc Dunoyer, GSK’s President of Asia Pacific and Chairman of Japan, said, “The depth of knowledge and experience Philippe gained through previous roles in Japan, his general business and commercial acumen and his proven leadership skills make him ideally suited to drive the growth of this key business. Over the next five years we have the potential to launch between 30 and 40 products in Japan and I look forward to working with Philippe to maximize this opportunity.”