Moncef Slaoui faces sexual-harassment allegation at GSK

• Moncef Slaoui, the former head of Operation Warp Speed, is facing a sexual-harassment allegation. 
• His former employer GlaxoSmithKline said an investigation “substantiated the allegations and is ongoing.”
• The complaint is from several years ago when Slaoui worked at GSK. He left the company in 2017.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Moncef Slaoui, the former head of the Trump administration’s COVID-19 vaccine program, is facing a sexual-harassment allegation stemming from his career at the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline.

GSK said in a statement on Wednesday that it had launched an investigation after receiving a letter accusing Slaoui of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct when he worked at the company. Slaoui left GSK in 2017.

The investigation “substantiated the allegations and is ongoing,” GSK said. The company said it had terminated Slaoui from a board position at Galvani Bioelectronics, a biotech company that GSK owns a majority stake in.

“Dr. Slaoui’s behaviours are wholly unacceptable,” GSK said. “They represent an abuse of his leadership position, violate company policies, and are contrary to the strong values that define GSK’s culture.”

In a letter to GSK employees obtained by Insider, CEO Emma Walmsley said that the company received the sexual-harassment complaint in February and that the board “immediately initiated an investigation with an experienced law firm.”

‘This simply should not have happened’

“Protecting the woman who came forward and her privacy has been a critical priority throughout this time,” Walmsley wrote. “This will continue. I respect and admire her courage and strength. I’ve spent many nights lately putting myself in her shoes. More than anything, this simply should not have happened.”

Slaoui didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The 61-year-old vaccine scientist had recently joined Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a newly launched drug company, as the chief scientific officer. Centessa declined to comment on the allegations.

Slaoui, who has a Ph.D. in molecular biology and immunology, spent nearly three decades ascending in the ranks at GSK. Then he became well known as the face of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s ambitious effort to develop and mass-produce coronavirus vaccines. In January, he resigned at the request of President Joe Biden’s team.

Slaoui worked at GSK for almost 3 decades

Slaoui started at GSK in 1988 as a bench scientist. By 2006 he had joined GSK’s board of directors, and he oversaw the vaccines business starting in 2009. After retiring from GSK, Slaoui became a venture capitalist, joining the firm Medicxi as a partner in 2017.

Medicxi didn’t respond to a request for comment, nor did the biotech company Vaxcyte, where Slaoui serves as chairman.

Walmsley said in the memo that she was “shocked and angry about all of this, but I’m resolute.”

“We are in an age of progress with a female CEO, growing ranks of female leaders, new commitments to diverse representation, and a culture that values speaking up,” Walmsley wrote. “I expect everyone to represent GSK with integrity — especially senior leaders.”

A vaccine-research site in Rockville, Maryland, that opened in December 2016 and was named after Slaoui will be renamed, she added.