Pfizer’ Executive Chairman Ian Read To Join Viatris Board; Retire from Pfizer Board

Pfizer announced that Ian Read, currently Pfizer’s Executive Chairman, will join the board of Viatris, the planned combination of Mylan, a generic-drug company, and Upjohn, Pfizer’s off-patent branded and generics medicines business, upon completion of the deal, which is expected to occur in mid-2020.

Pfizer announced the planned combination earlier this year (August 2019). The planned combination of Mylan and Pfizer’s Upjohn would create a new company with pro forma 2020 revenues of $19 billion to $20 billion.

Read, formerly Pfizer’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), became Pfizer’s Executive Chairman earlier this year (January 2019) after stepping down as CEO, effective January 1, 2019, with Albert Bourla, the company’s former Chief Operating Officer assuming the role of CEO. As previously announced by the company, Read has chosen to retire from Pfizer’s board on December 31, 2019. While Read was CEO and Chairman of Pfizer, the company began evaluating possible separation of its generics and established product business. 

Pfizer also named James Kilts, a Pfizer Director since 2007, to the Viatris board. He has held numerous leadership roles in a wide range of companies. He previously served as Vice Chairman of The Procter & Gamble Company; Chairman and CEO of The Gillette Company; President and CEO of Nabisco Group Holdings Corporation; Chairman of the Nielsen Company B.V.; and Chairman of Big Heart Pet Brands. He currently serves as a Director of MetLife Inc., The Simply Good Foods Company, and Unifi, Inc. and is also a Founding Partner of Centerview Capital, a private-equity firm. Kilts will cease being a member of Pfizer’s board immediately upon the closing of the Viatris transaction.

As previously announced by Pfizer, upon the completion of the Viatris transaction, Robert J. Coury will serve as the Executive Chairman of the Viatris board, and Michael Goettler, current Group President, Upjohn, will serve as CEO and board member.

Source: Pfizer

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