Brent Saunders gets key job as Pfizer, Allergan combine

Allergan Plc's Chief Executive Brent Saunders will be second in command at the world's largest drug maker, after he made the biggest bet of his career by selling his company for a record $160 billion to Pfizer Inc .

Saunders, 45, an intrepid deal maker, has a history of eventually leading companies that he had helped combine.

A timeline on Saunders' career:

1995-1997: Co-founds Healthcare Compliance Association, a company that provides consultation for healthcare providers.

Serves as Chief Compliance Officer at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital until 1997.

1998-1999: Chief Compliance Officer at Coventry Health Care.

1999-2003: Heads PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC's compliance business advisory.

2003-2009: Joins Schering-Plough in 2003 and heads its Global Consumer Healthcare unit. Credited with turning the company around before its sale to Merck & Co in 2009.

2010-2013: Helms Bausch+Lomb, his first job as CEO. Sells company for $8.4 billion to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc .

2013-2014: Named CEO of Forest Laboratories Inc. Instrumental in a $25 billion bid from Actavis Plc within six months into the job.

July 2014-present - Replaces Paul Bisaro as Actavis CEO. Outbids Valeant Pharmaceuticals and buys Botox-maker Allergan.

After changing the company's name to Allergan earlier this year, Saunders sells generic drugmaking business to Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd for $40.5 billion.