UnitedHealth Group’s Andrew Witty to join WHO vaccine efforts

Sir Andrew Witty, president of UnitedHealth Group and CEO of Optum, is taking a leave of absence to co-guide a global energy of the Environment Well being Organization to accelerate the improvement of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Witty’s appointment to the posture with WHO is successful April twenty. All through Witty’s short term assignment, UnitedHealth Group CEO David Wichmann will oversee Optum. Witty is envisioned to return to the firm at around year’s finish.

Witty, previous CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, was questioned to be part of WHO’s attempts. He served as CEO and a director of GSK from 2008 right up until 2017, possessing joined the firm in 1985. Even though CEO of GSK, he received global recognition for his attempts to produce and develop obtain to critically desired vaccines, UnitedHealth Group stated.

Witty was a member of the UnitedHealth Group Board of Directors from August 2017 right up until March 2018, when he turned CEO of Optum. He was named president of UnitedHealth Group in November 2019.

Wichmann stated that Witty brings the great combination of deep global well being experience, innovation and functioning competencies and, earlier mentioned all, a passion for, and appreciable success in, establishing vaccines.
  
All through UnitedHealth Group’s earnings phone on Wednesday, Wichmann stated, “Enable me pause to accept and add a observe of deep gratitude to Andrew Witty, who has declared this morning he will be taking a leave of absence to offer management for the attempts of the Environment Well being Organization to find and distribute a vaccine for COVID-19. We couldn’t be far more happy to phone just one of our individual to see just one of our individual serve in this way and we look forward to both of those his success in foremost this energy and his return to our firm as soon as this essential do the job is finished.”

Witty stated by statement, “I am deeply honored to assistance guide this mission to search for a COVID-19 vaccine and am confident the people of Optum will continue being relentless in their do the job to assistance their shoppers, communities and every single other every single working day. I look forward to rejoining them on the other facet of this crisis to carry on helping make the well being procedure do the job greater for everyone.”

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