Embattled drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) said Monday that ailing CEO J. Michael Pearson is now on medical leave, an announcement that sent the Canada-based company’s shares lower in pre-market trading.
Pearson, 56, has been hospitalized in New Jersey for what the company last week characterized as severe pneumonia. He was recently transferred to a second hospital, whose name and location has not been disclosed, for continued treatment, Bloomberg News reported Sunday.
The company’s board of directors created a new office of the chief executive as part of an interim executive management plan, Valeant said. The office will include Robert Chai-Onn, executive vice president and general counsel, Ari Kellen, executive vice president and company group chairman, and Robert Rosiello, executive vice president and chief financial officer, the company said.
Additionally, Valeant’s board of directors formed a new committee to oversee and support the interim executive team. Members of the panel are Robert Ingram, the company’s lead independent director, G. Mason Morfit, president of ValueAct Capital, and former Valeant CFO Howard Schiller, the company said.
“Our thoughts are with Mike and his family,” Ingram said in a statement issued with the announcement. “Out of respect, we will be honoring his family’s request for privacy and will not be commenting further on his condition at this time.”
Valeant shares were down 5.13% at $ 108.26 in morning trading after the announcement.
The company’s stock has been battered in recent months amid questions and allegations about Valeant’s drug-pricing and distribution policies, as well as its recently scrapped business relationship with Philidor Rx Services, the specialty pharmacy that helped the firm sell its medications through a network of pharmacies and win insurance reimbursements on the prescriptions.
Valeant on Dec. 16 lowered the company’s financial guidance for the fourth quarter and full year and issued a more pessimistic outlook for 2016.
The company’s revised forecast predicted fourth-quarter earnings per share between $ 2.55 and $ 2.65, down from the $ 4.00 to $ 4.20 guidance issued earlier. The new forecast fell well short of the $ 3.47 per share expected by Wall Street analysts.
The drugmaker also said full-year adjusted earnings per share are expected to range from $ 10.23 to $ 10.33 on total revenue of $ 10.4 billion to $ 10.5 billion. The projection marked a drop from earlier guidance of $ 11.67 to $ 11.87 earnings per share on total revenue of $ 11 billion to $ 11.2 billion.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Kevin McCoy on Twitter: @kmccoynyc.
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