Cindy Whitehead, the CEO of Raleigh-based Sprout Pharmaceuticals who championed the firm’s “female Viagra” to FDA approval earlier this year and then sold the company for $1 billion, is leaving the company.

“I feel like I’ve seen it through to what I wanted to accomplish,” Whitehead said in an interview with Bizwomen.com. “It really was to prove the science, get the approval so that women could have this choice for themselves and then really to build the team to have it really come to the realization of the bigger mission, which is the opportunity for this to go global and to be made widely available to women in an affordable way.”

Valeant, the Canadian firm that bought Sprout in August, confirmed Whitehead’s departure but also said she would remain a consultant with the company.

In a note to employees, Whitehead said she would serve as an “advisor” to Tracy Valorie, whom Valeant named as Sprout’s general manager.

“Thanks to the efforts of Cindy and her team, Valeant has the opportunity to make Addyi broadly available to patients in need of this important medical treatment,” Valeant spokeswoman Laurie Little said in an emailed to Business Insider. “Having built a team to take Addyi to market, we mutually agreed that it was the right time to transition to new leadership for the next phase of global commercialization.”

Addyi is the name of the drug, which the FDA approved on Aug. 18.

In a note to Sprout’s staff, Whitehead explained her departure.

“As I reflected over the holiday, I was awestruck by how much I have to be thankful for this year. Where do you even begin to describe the privilege of a front row seat to a breakthrough for women? From that seat I witnessed the triumph of science, the magnificent strength of women who advocate for themselves and each other and the power both passion and perseverance have to affect lasting change for the better. In that seat I also had the privilege of working alongside each one of you…my kindred spirits,” she wrote in the note, which was published first by BizWomen.

“The time has come for me to turn that seat over, not only to a new leader, but to you – the adoptive stewards of Addyi and all that she stands for. As you saw from the internal Valeant announcement, Tracy Valorie will step in as General Manager of Sprout. Congratulations are in order for her expanded responsibility. I know how excited she must be to lead this stand out brand and, more importantly, this stand out team. I’ll help Tracy in an advisory capacity for the next year.

“While bittersweet, the truth is phase 1 was mine to shepherd. Phase 2 is yours …”

Read the full interview at:

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2015/12/the-ceo-of-sprout-pharmaceuticals-is-stepping-down.html?page=all