Valeant CEO Mike Pearson looks 'forward to being back at work' (VRX)

Thomson Reuters

(Reuters) - Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc's ailing chief executive, Michael Pearson, said he was on the road to recovery but was uncertain about when he would return from medical leave.

"I'm glad to say that I'm on the road to recovery and although the timing of my return remains uncertain, I look forward to being back at work when able," Pearson said in a memo to employees.

Pearson, who joined Valeant as CEO in 2010 after a 23-year career at consultancy McKinsey & Co, was hospitalized with severe pneumonia in late December.

Valeant in January named its former chief financial officer and Pearson's long-time lieutenant, Howard Schiller, as interim chief executive.

During most of the years Pearson led the Laval, Quebec-based company, Schiller worked alongside him. The two employed a rapid growth strategy based on a constant stream of acquisitions and drug price increases.

But last year Valeant's surging growth stalled amid questions about its pricing, accounting practices, and for close ties to a specialty pharmacy.

(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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