HE has been in charge for two months, but Andrew Witty, the new chief executive of Glaxo Smith Kline, Europe’s biggest drugs company, is already trying to turn the business on its head.

One of his first decisions has been to do this in an almost literal way. He is moving the directors and senior managers out of their suite on the top floor of the group’s imposing west London headquarters and into a newly created space next to the staff coffee shop on the ground floor.

“Being on the 12th floor is a bit ivory tower-ish,” said Witty. “People who run companies should be visible and accountable. To have the chief executive and directors [in these new surroundings] will change the whole feel of the place.”

Rearranging the furniture may seem cosmetic, but the move is indicative of Witty’s attempts to create greater transparency in the company’s dealings with the healthcare systems (the “payers”, who dictate which drugs will be made available to patients), and his agenda to re-shape the way big pharma operates.

Under the old model, Glaxo and its competitors would have a range of drugs in development at any one time in the hope that one would turn out to be a blockbuster, generating billions in sales. It has become ever harder to create such blockbusters, though, and the patents on a number of existing big sellers will expire over the next few years.

This has depressed share prices across a sector that has traditionally been a safe haven in harsher economic climes — and is something Witty is keen to address.

In his first outing in front of the City since succeeding Jean-Pierre Garnier in May, Witty, 43, presented Glaxo’s second-quarter results and set out a three-point plan to revive the company: focus on emerging markets; simplify operations; and deliver more “products of value”.

He delivered on the first of these immediately, announcing a deal with South Africa’s Aspen that will allow Glaxo to market the former’s generic drugs in a host of emerging markets.

The statements drew a muted response from the City, and the company’s shares closed fractionally down on Wednesday, the day the strategy was announced.

One analyst said: “It makes sense, but how you execute it is what will concern people.” This was echoed by analysts at Deutsche Bank who wrote in a note that while the changes seemed “sensible”, “the benefits are unclear both in magnitude and timing” and noted that Glaxo “can’t shrink its way to greatness”.

Witty’s attempt to end the reliance on blockbusters is arguably the most radical element of the new approach. He said: “The biggest thing I’m trying to change is to go from saying it’s okay to have a blockbuster once every five years to a situation where we are delivering several new products every year.

“Let’s build up a constant flow, let’s get away from this boom and bust where you have nothing for five years, then a blockbuster and then nothing for five years. What happens if you don’t have a blockbuster? You just get bust, bust. I want to see a more steady stream of drugs.”

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