Allergan has appointed Brenton L. Saunders as chairman of the Allergan’s Board of Directors replacing Paul Bisaro, who has served as executive chairman since July 1, 2014. Bisaro will remain a member of the Allergan Board of Directors. In addition to the role of chairman, Saunders will retain his current role as chief executive officer (CEO) and president. Also, Christopher Coughlin has been elected lead independent director.

Saunders has served as a member of Allergan’s Board of Directors and CEO and president since July 2014 and has been a part of key acquisitions by the company. He was previously CEO and president of Forest Laboratories and a member of the Board of Directors of Forest, which Actavis acquired in 2014 for $28 billion. In March 2015, Actavis completed its approximate $70 billion acquisition of Allergan and took Allergan as the corporate name in June 2015. Most recently, Allergan completed the divestiture of its generics business to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in a $40.5 billion deal, which was completed in August 2016.

Prior to Forest, Saunders was CEO of Bausch + Lomb, a global eye health company, serving in this capacity from March 2010 until August 2013. He also held a number of leadership positions at Schering-Plough, including the position of president of Global Consumer Health Care and was named head of integration for the company’s merger with Merck & Co. and for Schering-Plough’s acquisition of Organon BioSciences. Before joining Schering-Plough, Saunders was a partner and head of Compliance Business Advisory at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Bisaro had served as executive chairman of Allergan’s Board of Directors since July 2014. He previously served as president and CEO and as chairman of the Board of Directors beginning October 2013; prior to serving as chairman he served on the board of directors beginning in September 2007.

Source: Allergan