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Brent Saunders

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Brent Saunders
BornFebruary 6, 1970[citation needed]
Alma materBachelor's,University of Pittsburgh[1]
MBA,Temple University[1]
JD,Temple University[1]
Occupation(s)Chairman and CEO of,Bausch + Lomb
Founder of Vesper Healthcare Acquisition[2]
Chairman of The Beauty Health Company[3]
Chairman of Hugel America[4]
Known forBiopharma executive, entrepreneur[5]

Brent Saunders(1969 or 1970) is an American biopharma executive and entrepreneur who is the chairman andCEOof the health companyBausch & Lomb.He helped lead various mergers and acquisitions, including the mergers betweenMerckandSchering-Plough,the acquisition of Bausch + Lomb byValeant Pharmaceuticals,and the $63 billion acquisition ofAllerganbyAbbvie.[6][7]He is the founder ofspecial-purpose acquisition company(SPAC) Vesper Healthcare Acquisition.[2]Saunders is also executive chairman of medical aesthetics companies The Beauty Health Company and Hugel America.[3][4]

Early life and education[edit]

Saunders was born in 1969 or 1970 to Charles and Sheila Saunders, a urologist and social worker.[1][6]He grew up in theLehigh Valleyregion of easternPennsylvania,with a twin brother Wayne and sister Reed,[1]and graduated fromParkland High SchoolinSouth Whitehall Township, Pennsylvaniain 1988.[1]

He attended theUniversity of Pittsburgh,where he was president of the student government board,[1]and graduated in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in economics and East Asian studies.[1]In 1996, he receivedMBAandJ.D.degrees fromTemple UniversityinPhiladelphia.[1]

Career[edit]

In 1996, while attending law school, Saunders started working part time atJefferson Healthas a compliance officer.[1]

In 2000, Saunders joinedPricewaterhouseCoopersas a healthcare compliance manager, and became partner and head of the firm's compliance business advisory services group.[1]In October 2003, Saunders was hired as senior vice president of global compliance and business practices atSchering-Plough,a pharmaceutical company.[1]In mid-2007, he became president of consumer health care at Schering-Plough, with responsibility for a business unit of products includingCoppertone,Dr. Scholl's,andClaritin.[1]In 2009, Saunders led the integration team of Schering-Plough's merger withMerck.[7]

In 2010, Saunders was appointed chief executive officerBausch & Lomb,an eye health company.[8]In 2010 he was appointed to theFederal Reserveadvisory board.[9]In 2013, as CEO of Bausch + Lomb, he oversaw its acquisition byValeant Pharmaceuticals,now known asBausch Health,for $8.7 billion.[7]He joined Valeant in an advisory role to assist with the transition.[10]In October, Saunders joined pharmaceutical companyForest Laboratoriesas CEO.[11]

In May 2014, Saunders was named chief executive officer ofActavis,a pharmaceutical company, after the company acquiredForest Laboratories.[12]In November, Saunders negotiated Actavis' merger withAllergan,a pharmaceutical company, for a reported $70.5 billion.[1]The new combined company took the Allergan name.[13]

In February 2015, Saunders appeared on the cover ofForbesmagazine, where he was named as "Wall Street's Drug Dealer".[6]In May 2019, Saunders survived a proposal brought by hedge fundAppaloosa Managementto split Allergan's chairman and CEO roles.[14]In June, pharmaceutical companyAbbvieacquired Allergan for $63 billion.[15]

In June 2020, Saunders joined the board of BridgeBio Pharma, a company founded with anIPOin 2019.[16]In September, Saunders’ special-purpose acquisition company Vesper Healthcare Acquisition publicly launched, and raised $400 million.[2]Filings indicated that Saunders owned 20% of the company after the SPAC sale.[2]In December, Saunders made his first deal with Vesper, acquiring HydraFacial, a beauty treatment company, for $1.1 billion.[7]

In May 2021, Vesper's HydraFacial deal closed, and the new company was renamed The Beauty Health Company, with Saunders taking the role of executive chairman.[3]He also served as interim CEO until February 2022.[17]

In June 2022, Saunders was named to the board of medical aesthetics company Hugel America, an affiliate ofSouth Korea-based Hugel Inc.[4]

In March 2023, Saunders returned to Bausch + Lomb as CEO and chairman.[18]In June, Saunders signed his first deal as CEO, purchasing dry eye drug Xiidra from Novartis for $1.75 billion.[19]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdefghijklmn"Brent Saunders, Parkland grad, is the Lehigh Valley's $150 billion dealmaker".The Morning Call.October 19, 2015.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  2. ^abcd"Brent Saunders rides $400M wave to the top of the SPAC boom".Endpoints News.September 30, 2020.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  3. ^abc"HydraFacial merges with Vesper Healthcare to form new, publicly traded company based in Long Beach".Long Beach Business Journal.May 7, 2021.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  4. ^abc"Ex-Allergan CEO Joins Parent of Botox Rival".Orange County Business Journal.June 21, 2022.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  5. ^"Allergan: Pharma's Biggest Dealmaker Is On The Hunt Again".Forbes.July 27, 2015.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  6. ^abc"This Giant Drug Firm Won't Invent Medicines. Investors Are Cheering".Forbes.March 21, 2011.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  7. ^abcd"Back to beauty: Former Allergan chief Saunders scoops up aesthetics company in $1.1B deal".Fierce Pharma.December 9, 2020.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  8. ^"Brent Saunders, Bausch & Lomb CEO: The Eyes Have It".Chief Executive.March 21, 2011.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  9. ^"Bausch & Lomb Brent Saunders Named to New York's Federal Reserve Regional Advisory Board".
  10. ^"Drugmaker Valeant to buy Bausch & Lomb for $8.7 billion".Reuters.March 21, 2011.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  11. ^"Forest Labs names ex-Bausch & Lomb head Brent Saunders as CEO".Reuters.September 10, 2013.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  12. ^"Forest Labs' Saunders to Head Actavis When Deal Closes".Wall Street Journal.May 14, 2014.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  13. ^"Allergan CEO Saunders puts on chairman's cap as Actavis architect Bisaro exits".Fierce Pharma.October 27, 2016.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  14. ^"Allergan CEO Saunders gets to keep chairmanship after failed investor campaign".Fierce Pharma.May 1, 2019.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  15. ^"AbbVie, nearing the end of Humira's historic run, scoops up a struggling Allergan for $63B".Fierce Pharma.June 25, 2019.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  16. ^"Saunders finds life after Allergan on board at newly IPO'ed BridgeBio".Fierce Pharma.June 24, 2020.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  17. ^"Beauty Health Names Andrew Stanleick CEO".Los Angeles Business Journal.January 21, 2022.RetrievedJuly 11,2022.
  18. ^"Brent Saunders to return as Bausch + Lomb CEO".February 15, 2023 – via reuters.
  19. ^Hopkins, Jared S. (June 30, 2023)."Bausch + Lomb's CEO Inks First Big Deal Since Return".Wall Street Journal– via wsj.
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