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Moroccan-American scientist Moncef Slaoui was fired as Galvani Bioelectronics board chairman over «substantiated» allegations of sexual harassment, British multinational pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said on Wednesday.
The dismissal of Slaoui, who served as chief scientist of the U.S. government’s Covid vaccine development effort Operation Warp Speed during the Trump administration, comes after the pharmaceutical firm received in February a letter «containing allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct towards an employee of GSK by Dr. Slaoui».
In a letter by GSK CEO Emma Walmsley in which she revealed Slaoui’s firing to employees, she indicates that the allegations «occurred several years ago when he [Slaoui] was an employee of GSK».
Following this letter, the company initiated an investigation with an experienced law firm, overseen by the Board, the letter mentioned.
An investigation is ongoing
«The investigation of Dr. Slaoui’s conduct substantiated the allegations and is ongoing», GSK said, stressing that «Dr. Slaoui’s behaviors are wholly unacceptable».
Slaoui had worked for GSK for 30 years, CNBC reported. He worked on overseeing vaccine development at the pharmaceutical giant and helped develop vaccines to prevent childhood rotavirus gastroenteritis, cervical cancer and shingles. The doctor is married to Kristen Slaoui, who worked as vice president and head of business development at GSK, the same source added.
The news on Slaoui’s dismissal comes after he was assigned by former US President Donald Trump to head Operation Wrap Speed in May, 2020. In January, he submitted his resignation at the request of the Biden team.
Slaoui had said before that he would step down after «two vaccines and two therapies for Covid-19 reached the market, which happened last month with the clearance of Moderna’s vaccine».
As Operation Warp Speed chief, Slaoui was criticized for his links to the pharmaceutical industry in the United States. In August 2020, Democrats questioned an Alexandria consulting company about a contract that allowed Slaoui to «maintain personal investments and avoid making ethics disclosures of his holdings in pharmaceutical companies».
Slaoui who was a former Moderna executive resigned from his position as member of the company’s board of directors earlier in May after he was appointed by Trump.
