With more than a year left before his departure, Jean-Pierre Garnier prefers not to talk about his legacy.

“I was given an institution that was not in the greatest shape and I made it stronger — that’s all you can say. The chapters of the book don’t matter very much because they are linked to circumstances.”

Dr Garnier says many of his biggest changes, including a new research and development model and a differential pricing scheme for drugs to developing countries, were thrust upon him, but he claims that his most important achievement has been creating a new corporate culture at GSK — one of “performance with integrity”.

“It’s like as a parent, if you educate your children well that’s more important than anything else that you have done specifically for them.”

Dr Garnier refuses to be drawn on who might replace him, other than to say it will be an insider. The front-runners are believed to be David Stout, head of pharmaceuticals; Chris Viehbacher, the American chief; Russell Greig, head of international operations; and Andrew Witty, who runs European operations. “We need a strong candidate,” he said, “with character, skill-set and adaptation to the situation we face.”

He will not, he insists, retain any role at GSK after his departure in May 2008. “I think it’s good for people who have put a significant footprint on a company to leave quickly.

“It can be frustrating for them and for the new candidate. It’s a good thing to have a clean departure.”

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