GlaxoSmithKline’s chief scientific officer Hal Barron is stepping down to head Altos Labs, a Silicon Valley startup focused on anti-aging technology. Barron will be replaced by Tony Wood, who joined the British pharmaceutical company in 2017 as the senior vice president after working at Pfizer.
Barron will officially step down from his role as CSO in August but will remain on the board where he will serve as a non-executive director and lend his expertise to different scientific matters. In his new role, Barron will serve as the CEO and board co-chair of Altos Labs.
Altos is a startup focused on using cellular rejuvenation programming to reverse disease. The biotechnology company, funded by billionaires including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, was founded by Richard Klausner, the former head of the National Cancer Institute in the U.S., and Hans Bishop, the founder of Juno Therapeutics.
Since joining GSK in 2017, Wood has been responsible for the development, discovery, and delivery of new medicines across GSK. He has helped to launch Cabenuva, a drug for the treatment used for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, and most recently Xevudy, a drug used to treat SARS-CoV-2. He also invented Maraviroc, a CCR5 antagonist for the treatment of HIV.
Barron spoke highly of Wood and expressed his excitement for the upcoming transition. “Tony will be an outstanding Chief Scientific Officer for GSK,” Barron said. “I know him as a person and scientist of the highest quality.”