Valeant announces new board appointment

Valeant has announced the appointment of Anders Lonner to its board of directors.

The hiring follows a vacant position and brings the total executives on the table to eight.

Mr Lonner’s term of employment is set to expire at the 2011 annual stockholders meeting.

Before becoming a member of the company’s board of directors, he was the group president, chief executive officer and board member of Meda AB since 1999.

Prior to that, he was vice-president for the Nordic region for Astra and was the head of the Association for Pharmaceutical Companies in Sweden.

Last week, Valeant declared it had appointed Rajiv De Silva to the position of chief operating officer in its speciality pharmaceuticals department.

Speaking at the time, he said he was “excited to join a company with such great potential”.

Mr De Silva added: “I look forward to playing a key role within Valeant’s management team as we further capitalise on this promise and fundamentally change our position in the pharmaceutical industry.”

Founded in 1960, Valeant currently employs approximately 2,200 people and is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, US.

The company’s third quarter revenue in 2008 was $168.4 million (115.6 million pounds).