Wesley Wheeler, president of Aliso Viejo’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals International and a key recruit of Chief Executive Tim Tyson, is leaving to become the head of Patheon Inc., a Canadian drug maker.
Wheeler is set to join Patheon as chief executive on Dec. 10.
He replaces Riccardo Trecroce, who was named Patheon’s interim chief executive in 2006 and appointed to the post for an indefinite period in March.
Wheeler, a 29-year drug industry veteran, had been with Valeant since early 2003. He came to the drug maker, which then was called ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., from DSM Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Greenville, N.C. unit of Dutch drug maker DSM NV.
Wheeler, like Valeant Chief Executive Tyson and several other executives, worked for GlaxoSmithKline PLC. He served as that company’s senior vice president of logistics and strategy.
Patheon has 14 facilities in the U.S., Canada and Europe, and 5,100 workers. It is a contract maker of products for other drug makers and has more than 250 drug and biotechnology clients.
The move comes as Valeant is wrestling with growth issues.
Earlier this month, Valeant said it would sell Infergen, a hepatitis C drug that it paid $113.5 million for last year from InterMune Inc. of the Bay area. Amgen Inc., the Thousand Oaks-based biotech company, originally developed Infergen.
It continues to rely on steady products from the ICN. Some analysts say the company needs a blockbuster drug to spur growth.
In a recent interview, Tyson said he’s looking to retigabine, an epilepsy drug that’s in clinical trials, to spur growth.
Valeant gained retigabine in 2005’s $280 million deal for Xcel Pharmaceuticals Inc. of San Diego.
“Retigabine, assuming positive clinical results, could provide significant revenues once approved and marketed,” Tyson said.
