With a talent tiff now in the rear view, longtime AstraZeneca veteran Chris Sheldon, Ph.D., has received the all-clear to join crosstown rival GSK this fall.
GSK and AZ reached an accord a little more than a month after AZ scored an injunction to block the move in a London court, a GSK spokesperson confirmed.
Sheldon is free to start his new role as senior vice president overseeing GSK’s commercial portfolio Nov. 5, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
“This appointment supports our clear ambition to invest in our commercial capabilities to deliver future growth,” a GSK spokesperson said over email.
The unusual legal battle between the British Big Pharmas came to light in mid-August.
At the time, multiple news outlets reported that AstraZeneca had asked a London court to enforce and extend a noncompete clause signed by Sheldon in a bid to keep trade secrets out of GSK’s hands.
Several weeks later, a High Court judge granted AZ’s injunction, handing the company a temporary victory in the dispute.
“Whilst we are disappointed by this interim decision, we continue to believe that Dr. Sheldon’s position is strong and are confident that he will be able to begin his new role at GSK following the main hearing in October,” a GSK spokesperson said at the time.
Sheldon was originally meant to start his new role at GSK in September.
Sheldon, who worked at AZ for nearly two decades and most recently served as the company’s vice president of investor relations, received more than 644,000 pounds sterling (about $714,260) in company shares back in 2021 to sign the noncompete clause. The contract specifically barred Sheldon from facilitating competition in respiratory, oncology and COVID-19 related therapy work for six months after leaving AZ, the company told Bloomberg in August.
Sheldon, for his part, has denied any wrongdoing and contends he told AZ of his plans to switch companies in April.
The resolution marks the end of the latest AstraZeneca talent kerfuffle, which follows a similar feud over the departure of former executive Luke Miels in 2017. At the time, AZ argued Miels planned to join GSK “in breach of his contract of employment” with AstraZeneca, an AZ spokesperson said.