Slaoui is the former head of the vaccines department atGlaxoSmithKline (GSK).[2] He worked at the company for thirty years, retiring in 2017. On May 15, 2020, PresidentDonald Trump announced that Slaoui would manage the U.S. government's development of a vaccine used to treatcoronavirus disease in OPWASP;[3] Slaoui resigned on January 12, 2021 after successfully having helped introduce a number of vaccines to the US and global markets.
In March 2021, Slaoui was fired from the board of GSK subsidiary Galvani Bioelectronics over what GSK called “substantiated”sexual harassment allegations stemming from his time at the parent company.[4] Slaoui issued an apology statement and stepped down from positions at other companies at the same time.[5]
Slaoui was born on July 22, 1959, inAgadir,Morocco.[6] The city was evacuated in February 1960 after anearthquake, and Slaoui was raised inCasablanca.[7] His father worked in the irrigation business[8] and died when Slaoui was a teenager, leaving his mother to raise him and his four siblings.[7]
Slaoui and his wife lived in the United States from 1983 to 1985 while each did post-doctoral research atHarvard.[7] When she was recruited to continue research on influenza atSmithKline-RIT in Belgium (which would later become part ofGlaxoSmithKline (GSK)),[8] Slaoui got a job teaching immunology at theUniversity of Mons inBelgium.[13]
Slaoui has co-authored more than 100 research papers.[14]
Slaoui (far right) at a GSK event in December 2016
In 1988, after consulting for SmithKline-RIT for three years, Slaoui joined the company as a vaccine researcher.[7][9] In 2006, he was appointed head of research and development at GlaxoSmithKline, succeedingTachi Yamada.[15][16] In 2007, he announced plans to establish a neurosciences research group inShanghai that would employ a thousand scientists and cost $100 million; it ceased operations in August 2017.[17]
In 2008, Slaoui led the $720 million acquisition ofSirtris Pharmaceuticals, which folded amidst turmoil in 2013.[18] In 2012, he oversaw GSK's purchase ofHuman Genome Sciences for over $3 billion.[18] He "sold off GSK’s entireoncology business, whichNovartis turned into a 'cancer heavyweight'". One "pharma industry veteran" told a reporter in 2020 that "those are three of the worst deals in drug industry history."[18]
In April 2013, he co-wrote a paper with several other GSK heads that introduced the term "electroceutical" to broadly encompassmedical devices that use electrical, mechanical, or light stimulation to affectelectrical signaling in relevant tissue types.[20] Over the next several years, he attempted to sell a public audience on GSK's development ofbioelectronic medicine, with appearances onYouTube[21] and at futurist conferences.[22]
In July 2013, he wrote anop-ed in theHuffington Post entitled "It’s Time to Further Incentivize Medical Innovation", in which he outlined three recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the pharmaceutical industry.[23]
On May 15, 2020, PresidentDonald Trump officially announced OPWASP, a project to develop and deliver 300 million doses ofa vaccine for thecoronavirus disease 2019 by January 2021.[3] Slaoui was named to lead the project, working alongside chief operating officer and four-star generalGustave F. Perna.[31] Other candidates for Slaoui's position reportedly includedElias Zerhouni andArthur Levinson.[13][32] President Trump described Slaoui as "one of the most respected men in the world in the production and, really, on the formulation of vaccines", while Secretary of Health and Human ServicesAlex Azar praised him as "arguably the world’s most experienced and successful vaccine developer".[33]
To avoid a conflict of interest, Slaoui resigned from the board of the Massachusetts-based biotech firmModerna, which had been developing a vaccine for the coronavirus.[3][34] Slaoui faced criticism, particularly from SenatorElizabeth Warren, for continuing to have Moderna stock options worth over $10 million.[35][36] On May 18, 2020, Slaoui resigned from the board of manufacturing firm Lonza, which Moderna had partnered with to develop a coronavirus vaccine.[37] On May 19, after initially denying a conflict of interest, Slaoui divested his Moderna stock and donated the value it had gained from May 14 onwards to cancer research.[37][38][39]
Slaoui was scheduled to speak at the annual Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) conference on June 9, 2020, but ultimately pulled out, citing his failure to brief Congress beforehand.[41]
On October 9, 2020, in a profile of Slaoui, theWall Street Journal said the COVID-19 vaccines would be accompanied by a tracking system provided jointly by McKesson, Google and Oracle. The tracking is geared towards monitoring vaccine series uptake, as well as side effects.[42]
Slaoui resigned from OPWASP on January 12, 2021.[43]
On March 24, 2021, Slaoui was fired as chairman of the board of directors ofGalvani Bioelectronics, a medical research firm owned mostly by GSK, over what the board of GSK called “substantiated”sexual harassment allegations. In a statement, GSK said they had received a letter a month before Slaoui’s dismissal “containing allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct towards an employee of GSK by Dr. Slaoui” that “occurred several years ago when he was an employee of GSK”.[44][45] Slaoui issued an apology for his behavior.[5] He returned $3.86 million to GSK under aclawback policy.[46]
Slaoui isMuslim.[47][48] He is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.[14] He is a citizen of Morocco, Belgium, and the United States.[49]: 8
Slaoui has three sons[8] and is married to Kristen Slaoui (née Belmonte), a 1992 graduate of Gettysburg College.[49]: 8 Slaoui's younger sister died at a young age frompertussis.[7][50] One of his two younger brothers, a pediatrician, Amine, died frompancreatic cancer.[8] His other brother, Mohamed, is a specialist ingastroenterology and his older sister, Hadia, is a university professor ofFrench literature in Morocco.[8][7]
Gettysburg College awarded Slaoui an honoraryDoctor of Science in May 2017.[49] In 2012, Slaoui was named as one of the "25 most influential people in biopharma today" byFierceBiotech.[65] In 2016,Fortune ranked him among "The World's 50 Greatest Leaders".[50]The Medicine Maker included Slaoui in its 2018 list of "World’s Top 100 Medicine Makers".[66]
Slaoui was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans byNew African magazine in 2020.[67]
^US Expired 8597656B2, Cabezon, Teresa Silva; Slaoui, Moncef Mohamed & Cohen, Joseph et al., "Process for the production of immunogenic compositions", published March 12, 2013, issued March 12, 2013, assigned to GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA
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