Jean-Pierre Garnier, chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, once joked with Sir Christopher Gent, the chairman, that he risked becoming a lame duck once his successor was announced.

Sitting in GSK’s UK headquarters on Wednesday, three weeks after naming his replacement but seven months before he steps down, Mr Garnier appeared instead more of a sacrificial lamb as he outlined an ambitious £1.5bn restructuring package in the face of disappointing results.