Dive Brief:
- Michael Pearson, the CEO of Valeant, is recovering from his hospitalization in late December for severe pneumonia, according to reports from CNBC and Bloomberg. He is out of the hospital, but is still on medical leave while his health improves.
- In his absence, former Chief Financial Officer Howard Schiller remains the interim CEO. Schiller has had to face the public criticism of Valeant's pricing strategies, most recently at a Congressional hearing headlined by the former Turing CEO Martin Shkreli.
- In a tweet, CNBC reported Valeant's board is debating whether Pearson should return at this time.
Dive Insight:
Pearson, 56, told Valeant employees he looked forward to returning to work when he is able in a January 25th memo. He explained in the memo that unexpected complications had led to a longer hospital stay than he originally expected.
Pearson knows what he's coming back to at Valeant. When he developed pneumonia late last year, he was deeply embroiled in a battle to regain investors' trust. Since his medical leave, Valeant has had to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee regarding its pricing practices. Its stock continues to fall, and the company recently said it would have to restate earnings due to accounting practices tied to the specialty pharmacy Philidor.
Since the company's stock peaked in August 2015 at over $260, it is down more than 65%. When the market closed on Thursday, Valeant was trading around $85.