Wells Fargo analyst: Why a new CEO won't save Valeant

Debt-ridden pharmaceutical company Valeant secured an industry veteran as its new chief executive earlier this week — an appointment investors are hoping will enable the company's turnaround.

It won't work, a Wells Fargo analyst said.

Valeant, whose stock price has plunged 65 percent over the last year amid probes into its drug pricing, is too mired in debt to make a full recovery, analyst David Maris said on CNBC's "Halftime Report" on Wednesday.

"A new captain might sound great, but it's the ship that matters," Maris said.

"We see the business remains weak, and the pricing strategy that they've tried to use for the last few years — that game is up."

Maris a drop in Valeant prices in February when he gave the stock an "underperform" rating. At the time, he wrote that he believed the company's leadership had "made decisions that may have put Valeant at significant business and reputational risk."

The company had come under fire for acquiring and subsequently raising the prices of two life-saving drugs, Isuprel and Nitropress, by 525 percent and 212 percent.

Although Valeant's board has since ousted CEO Michael Pearson, Maris is still not convinced the company — even with former Perrigo CEO Joseph Papa stepping up to its helm — will be able to push its stock back up.

"I just don't see a good, clear path forward to recommend a stock that owes so much money, and whose business model has just deteriorated in six months," Maris said.

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The company's strategy of acquiring smaller pharmaceutical companies and then selling their drug products at drastically higher prices ultimately backfired, Maris added.

"I think everybody agrees a 500 percent, 1,000 percent increase on a drug price just isn't acceptable," Maris said.

Disclosure: Wells Fargo makes a market in Valeant.