Costa Mesa-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has tapped TV star Courteney Cox to market its Kinerase line of skin care products.

Cox is the first spokesperson hired by Valeant, formerly ICN Pharmaceuticals. The actor, best known as Monica on the TV show "Friends," is set to tout the the brand through personal appearances and in Kinerase ads.

Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Valeant launched Kinerase Cream, a moisturizer, in 2002. The key ingredient in Kinetin: a plant growth factor that allows the skin to keep moisture.

The hiring of Cox marks another step in the evolution of Valeant, which for the past few years has been breaking with its past. In 2002, a group of dissident investors forced the ouster of founder and former chief executive Milan Panic.

Panic's influence on what then was ICN was great. The Serbian native expanded in Eastern Europe and played a dominant role in other company decisions.

Valeant's management, led by Chief Executive Tim Tyson, has spent the past few years streamlining the company, selling off far-flung operations and focusing on the U.S. and other key markets.