Nov 21 (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical on Monday appointed former Novartis and Biogen executive Richard Francis to succeed chief executive officer Kare Schultz who is due to retire later this year.

Francis, who currently holds the top post at gene therapy firm Purespring Therapeutics and biopharma company Forcefield Therapeutics, will also take the role of Teva's president, effective Jan. 1, 2023.

Formerly the chief at Novartis' generic business Sandoz, Francis, 54, has also worked at Biogen and oversaw the launch of the company's multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera.

Barclays analysts view the appointment as "timely for 2023" with upcoming launch of Teva's schizophrenia drug Risperidone LAI and a biosimilar of Amgen Inc's arthritis drug, Humira.

Francis brings in significant experience needed to grow Teva's three core businesses of generics, biosimilars and specialty, said Barclays analyst Balaji Prasad.

During Schultz's tenure, Teva has struggled with lower prices for U.S. generics drugs, the loss of a patent on its blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone, and lawsuits alleging the company helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic and price fixing.

Teva is working to finalize a nationwide opioid settlement valued at more than $4.2 billion.

U.S.-listed shares of the Israeli drugmaker fell 1.5% to $8.59 in morning trade.

Schultz, 61, was poached from Lundbeck and took over in 2017 after Teva, under predecessor Erez Vigodman, bought Allergan's generics business in a heavily criticized move and saddled the company with a huge debt.

To help pay down the debt, Schultz slashed Teva's workforce and shut plants, bringing net debt down by more than $15 billion to $19 billion, but investors have not rewarded the moves.

Since Schultz took over, Teva's stock has fallen nearly 50%. The company's market cap is down 85% from its peak of $67.5 billion in August 2015, according to Refinitiv data. (Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru and by Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)