Andrew Witty is sticking to his guns. While rivals have begun a series of mega-mergers, GlaxoSmithKline’s chief executive has insisted that he wants to do things differently. Mr Witty has said he favours instead a more gradual approach to easing the UK’s biggest pharmaceutical company down its patent cliff.

Two pieces of this strategy have fallen into place. Monday’s $3.6bn deal, including assumed debt, to buy Stiefel Laboratories, a Florida-based maker of acne creams, will add more than 200 products and a specialist sales force to GSK’s existing $500m dermatology business.