Sir Austin Bide, the former Glaxo chairman who has died at the age of 92, presided over a period of dramatic growth that enabled the company to become one of the world-wide giants of the pharmaceutical industry.

Himself a chemist who had worked on the development of penicillin, Austin Bide reorganised and strengthened Glaxo, which up to then had been little more than a disparate group of companies each with its own tradition and way of doing things. Bide oversaw expansion into the US but above all he recognised the importance of investing in research and development. It was during his chairmanship that Glaxo produced Zantac, the anti-ulcer drug that transformed the company into a major player on the international stage.