Ex-OWS chief ousted from company board after sexual harassment allegations

Amid sexual misconduct allegations, Moncef Slaoui, the former chief scientific advisor on Operation Warp Speed, has been booted from his board position at a GlaxoSmithKline-backed startup.  

The alleged harassment toward a fellow employee happened while Slaoui led GSK’s vaccines unit, a post he retired from in 2017. According to GSK, a law firm has substantiated the claims of inappropriate conduct.

This week, GSK’s CEO, Emma Walmsley, sent a company-wide email saying that Slaoui’s behaviors “represent an abuse of his leadership position and violate our company policies, our values, and our commitment to trust.”                         

Slaoui had been serving as board chairman to Galvani Bioelectronics, a startup aimed at developing bioelectronic drugs for chronic diseases that was formed as a joint venture between GSK and Verily Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc. GSK has now asked Slaoui to step down from his position.

Slaoui also recently left his post at OWS following the election of President Biden.

Read the full Wall Street Journal report.