GSK spin-off to create consumer healthcare giant

British drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline on Monday demerges its newly-named consumer healthcare unit Haleon, resulting in what is set to be London's largest new stock market listing in more than a decade.

The new company -- owning brands including Sensodyne toothpaste, pain relief drug Panadol and cold treatment Theraflu -- is set for a valuation of about 40 billion ($47.4 billion) when it begins trading on the London stock market, according to Bloomberg.

The major strategy shift by GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley comes after she has faced intense activist shareholder pressure over the company's delays in producing Covid jabs and treatments.