VALEANT CEO: The first thing I have to do is 're-recruit' my employees
The reason he is so confident: the company's drug pipeline.
The new CEO of Valeant Pharmaceuticals said in his first interview since taking the role that the company has great brands.
"But you know the biggest surprise and the reason that really got me? I looked at their pipeline," he told "Mad Money's" Jim Cramer on CNBC. "Because to me, that's going to predict how is a company successful in the future. Are they going to grow organically or not?"
Papa said that the company has 10 new drugs that it expects to launch in the next year and a half.
His compensation, if he manages to turn things around, is $65 million. When pressed by Cramer, he said that he's not in it for the money.
"This is an industry that does more good for people than any other industry at least as far as I'm concerned," he said. "I'm a pharmacist by my training. To me, this was all about if I could play a small role in improving Valeant, and if that has a beneficial impact on the entire pharmaceutical industry, I think I will have done something that's important."
Papa's only a week into his new gig, and he said that his first priority is to "re-recruit" Valeant employees.
"Get their engagement back. That's an important message. They've had a tough nine months. There's no doubt about that," he said.
He was also asked if the company would be rolling back prices on drugs. Papa said that he doesn't yet know if that will happen.
"I don't know the action yet, but we're clearly going to look at patient access, and make sure that if people want our drugs, they get access to our drugs," he said.