AMSTERDAM — Leslie McGibbon, the former chief communications officer at AkzoNobel, is joining Teva Pharmaceuticals, the world’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs.

In McGibbon’s new role, as VP and European head of brand communications, he will be responsible for growing the Teva brand across Europe, including how it communicates digitally with patients and healthcare professionals.

He told the Holmes Report: “Teva has come out of a challenging period of change and it now has the opportunity to establish its brand around the world and have a far higher profile. My background is in building brands and working in organisations that have a change agenda, from big consumer brands like Intercontinental to healthcare at GlaxoSmithKline, so I will be bringing consumer brand thinking with healthcare knowledge to the role.”

McGibbon left AkzoNobel last March after a tumultuous year for the chemicals company, and in the interim has been consulting for firms including Tulchan Communications and Unilever.

He arrives at Teva, which is headquartered in Israel, as it has come under fire along with other generic pharmaceutical manufacturers for alleged price fixing.

McGibbon will continue to be based in Amsterdam, reporting to corporate marketing and communications EVP Iris Beck Codner and Teva Europe CEO Richard Daniel. McGibbon replaces Paul Williams, who will now look after UK communications within McGibbon’s team.