LAVAL, Quebec— Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE/TSX: VRX) has announced that Anne C. Whitaker, former president and chief executive officer of Synta Pharmaceuticals will be joining the Valeant executive management team as its executive vice president and company group chairman, a new position.

Whitaker, who most recently served as president, CEO and a member of the board of directors of Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., was recognized for her work in streamlining the organization and prioritizing its pipeline opportunities, the company said. Prior to this, she was president, North America Pharmaceuticals at Sanofi where she oversaw all regional pharmaceutical and consumer health care operations. She also held leadership positions at GlaxoSmithKline, including senior vice president and business unit head, cardiovascular, metabolic and urology (CVMU) and senior vice president of leadership and organization development.

"Anne is an accomplished pharmaceutical executive with more than 24 years of experience in key leadership roles across health care sales, marketing and commercial management both in the GI space and oncology. She also has a proven track record of success in delivering sustainable growth and profitability, and we look forward to her contributions to Valeant," said J. Michael Pearson, Valeant's chairman and CEO.

Additionally, Valeant has also announced that current CFO, Howard B. Schiller will be stepping down once his successor is appointed. However, he will still remain on the Valeant board and with the board’s continued recommendation will also stand for re-election as a director for the annual shareholder meeting in May.

Schiller, 53, joined Valeant as CFO in 2011 and was appointed to the board of directors of Valeant in September 2012.