Mylan NV, a leading global pharmaceutical company, has appointed Ranjan Ray Chaudhuri as global commercial lead of the company's over-the-counter (OTC) business. Chaudhuri will report to Rajiv Malik, president of Mylan.

Chaudhuri joins Mylan from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare, where he served for nearly three decades, and brings to Mylan a world of experience.

During his time at GSK, Chaudhuri was responsible for the company's global smoking reduction and cessation category, which included NiQuitin and other well-known nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs). Working in close partnership with market leaders, he turned around the business' performance, delivering double-digit revenue growth. In addition, Chaudhuri led the development of an innovative programme designed to improve the quality of life of COPD patients by leveraging NRTs along with other GSK respiratory products, such as Advair and Seretide. Prior to that, Chaudhuri served as innovation director for GSK's Smoking Control and Cold Sore franchises, driving double-digit sales growth in the latter through product launches and creative advertising.

Chaudhuri recently led the divestiture of an OTC portfolio of NRT products to Perrigo, a move prompted by GSK's formation of a consumer healthcare joint venture with Novartis.

Mylan CEO Heather Bresch commented, "As we have previously stated, we are committed to investing significantly to expand our OTC business, knowing that OTC is an important channel that will complement our existing strengths in the prescription and generic channels around the world. This is why we believe our combination with the Perrigo and Omega platforms presents such a compelling opportunity to accelerate our efforts."

Mylan president Rajiv Malik said, "Ranjan joins us at an opportune time, bringing deep knowledge of the OTC space, sales and marketing leadership, experience in developed and emerging markets, and a proven track record for delivering results. He will work closely with me and my colleagues at the global level, as well as others, within both Mylan's and Perrigo's commercial structures, to further realize the combination's commercial value should we complete the Perrigo transaction."

Chaudhuri said, "I have been watching Mylan's growth and performance for some time, and am extremely impressed with the caliber of its leaders, the strength of its brand, and its global team's ability to consistently perform and create value both organically and through strategic initiatives. I am also energized by the desire of Mylan's workforce to make a lasting and positive difference in the world. The opportunity to build upon Mylan's one-of-a-kind global platform and contribute to the organisation's ongoing evolution is tremendously exciting to me. I look forward to bringing to Mylan all that I have learned over the years to help further distinguish it as one of the world's great companies."

Earlier in his career with GSK Consumer Healthcare, Chaudhuri served in a variety of capacities, including global head of eMarketing, a function he launched; head of strategic planning for North America; and global director, analgesics category management, during which time he drove the growth of Panadol, GSK's leading analgesic brand, in multiple regions. In addition, he served in various sales and marketing leadership positions, and helped grow the revenue and share of products such as Panadol, nutritional drinks Horlicks and Boost, and hair-styling agent Brylcreem. Chaudhuri started his career at Unilever, selling Lipton tea in India.

Chaudhuri received a bachelor of arts (honors) from St. Xavier's College in Calcutta, India, and a postgraduate diploma in business management from Institute of Modern Management, Calcutta, India.