David EI Pyott

Early life

Pyott was born in 1953 in London, England. His parents were from Scotland; and, as a child, he lived in India, where his father worked in the sugar industry.

Pyott received a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1975 and a Diploma in International and European Law from the Europa Institute at the University of Amsterdam. He received a Master of Business Administration from the London Business School and an MS from the University College London in 1980.

Career

Pyott worked for Sandoz Nutrition at various jobs from 1980 until 1990. From 1990 to 1992, Pyott served as the general manager of Sandoz Nutrition in Barcelona, Spain. From 1992 until 1995, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Sandoz Nutrition Corporation. In 1995 Pyott transferred from Sandoz and joined Novartis AG, upon the merger of Sandoz and Ciba Geigy where he was head of the Nutrition Division until December 1997. On January 1, 1998, he joined Allergan, which at that time was a small eye care business. As of 2014, Pyott was one of the longest tenured pharmaceutical CEOs. Under his leadership Allergan grew from a small eye care business to an international pharmaceutical and medical device company that earns over $5 billion a year.

In 1998, Pyott joined the board of Allergan and became Chairman in 2001. He has been a member of the board of Avery Dennison since 1999. He served on the board of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation from 2000 to 2014 and was a board member of Pacific Life from 2005 until 2007. Pyott was Chairman of California Healthcare Institute in 2003 and again in July 2012. Pyott currently serves as the President of the International Council of Ophthalmology Foundation, member of the Board of the Pan American Ophthalmological Foundation, member of the Advisory Board of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Retina Global and the American Glaucoma Society Foundation. David also serves on the Boards of BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Royal Philips, Avery Dennison and as Chairman of privately held Bioniz Therapeutics. He is a member of the Governing Board of London Business School.

Allergan Acquisition

On April 21, 2014, Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management teamed up with pharmaceutical company, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, to make a run at acquiring Allergan. Rejecting the unsolicited $46 billion offer, as CEO, Pyott defended his company. He believed selling to Valeant would not create long-term value for Allergan’s shareholders due to Valeant’s historic reliance on cost-cutting. Pyott is known to value aggressive research and development for Allergan, which he said had enabled Allergan to launch several new products and increase annual sales by an average of 11% since 2011. The R&D and marketing spends address consumer needs while providing value for shareholders, as was seen with Botox. The rejection by Allergan, however, did not prevent Valeant and Pershing from pursuing the Botox maker further.

Originally offering $48.30 per share, Valeant increased the cash portion of its offer to $58.30 per share. Pyott and Allergan, standing tall on their beliefs, rejected the offer citing yet again Valeant’s unsustainable business model. As expected, this heated up the war between Pyott, Ackman and Valeant. In order to ward off the hostile takeover attempt, Allergan was courting other offers from companies with more sustainable business models. On November 17, 2014, Allergan announced that they had agreed to a deal with Actavis plc for $66 billion, making it one of the world’s largest drug makers by sales. Pyott’s decision to move forward with Actavis was based on the company’s impressive management structure and desire to keep more of Allergan’s research and development operation intact. After the acquisition was finalized, Pyott elected not to join the combined company’s board, but stayed on as chairman of The Allergan Foundation.

In July 2015, Actavis plc announced that the company adopted Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) as the company name following the approval by Actavis shareholders on June 5. The combination of the two companies created one of the world's top 10 pharmaceutical companies by revenue and a leader in a new industry model.

As of March 15, 2015, Valeant’s stock crashed more than 50%. A number of factors contributed to the collapse of Valeant, many of which validate Pyott’s approach to business. Since the acquisition attempt and the subsequent fallout, Pyott’s sentiments regarding Valeant have been vindicated. Some have even gone as far to call Pyott a “hero” for saving Allergan and its shareholders and fighting for what he believes in.

Honors and awards

Throughout his career, Pyott has collected a number of honors and awards for his philanthropic efforts and his leadership at Allergan.

Philanthropy

In his first year as CEO of Allergan in 1998, Pyott created the Allergan Foundation. The Allergan Foundation strives to make a positive and lasting impact on the community. They provide philanthropic support and lend involvement to organizations working hard to make the lives of individuals healthier and happier. The foundation also strives to make their communities better places to live, now and in the future. Because of his dedication to positive patient outcomes, Pyott continued his philanthropic efforts outside of Allergan as well. In 2015, he donated £4.3 million to his alma mater, London Business School. His donation helped transform the future of the School and its ability to fulfill its vision of having a profound impact on the way the world does business. To further his quest for driving positive patient outcomes, Pyott also established a personal foundation, David E.I. Pyott Foundation to help address the many issues in the eye care community. On March 9, 2016, the foundation pledged $2 million to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. When the donation was made, it was the largest gift ever contributed to the Academy’s foundation from a single individual. The David E.I. Pyott Glaucoma Education Center will help speed online medical training in glaucoma treatment addressing a growing need in the world.

Recognizing that more physicians must properly be trained to affect a greater number of positive patient outcomes, Pyott also donated to the University of Edinburgh for The David E.I. Pyott Master of Surgery in Clinical Ophthalmology Scholarship, awarding online distance learning Masters scholarships in the field of Ophthalmology for students from Africa, South Asia, Caribbean Islands, Pacific Islands, Central and South America. Pyott is also the Chairman of the privately held Bioniz Therapeutics helping treat immune-inflammatory diseases and cancer.

Personal life

Pyott is married with four children.