Valeant's CFO to step down once successor is appointed

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has announced Howard B. Schiller advised the company he plans to step down as chief financial officer upon the appointment of a successor.

Schiller will remain as chief financial officer (CFO) during the search for a successor, according to a company press release release. He also intends to stay on Valeant’s board of directors and will stand for re-election in that position at the annual stockholder meeting in May, the release stated.

Schiller joined Valeant as CFO in December 2011 and was appointed to the board of directors in September 2012.

“Over the past few years, Howard has been an integral part of the management team at Valeant — his unwavering commitment, tireless work ethic, strong intellect and good judgment have helped increase our market capitalization from under $14 billion when he joined to nearly $70 billion today while positioning the company for continued success,” J. Michael Pearson, Valeant’s chairman and CEO, said in the release.

Valeant also announced Anne C. Whitaker, former president and CEO of Synta Pharmaceuticals, has been named executive vice president and company group chairman of Valeant’s executive management team. Synta is a biopharmaceutical company with a focus on research, development and commercialization of novel oncology medicines, according to the release.

Reference: www.valeant.com.