Earlier this month, J&J announced that the 32-year veteran of the company and the face of its device business — Gary Pruden — will step down on June 1 and retire.
Interestingly, the press release announcing the replacement of Pruden did not contain the usual accolades from higher-up executives — in this case, it would likely be chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky— to recognize and thank a long-time employee. [A news report on Pruden’s departure had a statement from the company praising Pruden’s for his efforts that led to J&J’s collaboration with Google and the creation of Verb Surgical, but that was statement was nowhere in the news release ].
Instead, the company’s release almost entirely focused on his replacement —Sandra Peterson.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
“Since joining the company more than four years ago, Sandi has been a valuable partner and has played a critical role in positioning Johnson & Johnson to thrive in a rapidly changing environment,” Gorsky said in the news release. “Under Sandi’s leadership, our Consumer and Consumer Medical Device businesses have improved significantly, and the quality and efficiency of our operating infrastructure have been notably strengthened. Sandi has a proven track record and brings broad-based experience and a strategic, global perspective to our Hospital Medical Device business.”
A J&J spokeswoman confirmed that to be the only news release informing the public of the leadership change in the devices business.
Pruden joined Johnson & Johnson in 1985 in New Jersey and steadily climbed the corporate ladder and was named worldwide chairman of medical devices and executive vice president in May 2015.
While Pruden is leaving after 32 years, another senior medical device executive has jumped ship after 28 years at J&J. On Thursday, came the news that Bridget Ross, most recently vice president of commercial operations for the medical devices business, is joining Henry Schein, a worldwide distributor of medical, dental and veterinary supplies.
That includes the time that she was worldwide president of Acclarent, the company that J&J bought in 2009 and then had to pay $18 million in fines to settle False Claims Act charges brought by the government and a whistleblower. J&J ultimately withdrew the product in question from the market.
Per her LinkedIn profile, Ross became vice president of commercial operations for DePuy Synthes following her four-year stint as president of Acclarent In February 2016, she was named vice president of commercial operations for the entire medical devices business.
It’s been a rough ride for Johnson & Johnson’s medical device business although some analysts now believe that the company is on the right track.
Last year, J&J was hit with requests to break up some of its businesses and grow through acquisitions. The company also reorganized the medical device business in 2016 to better align with its hospital customers. In late January, the New Brunswick, New Jersey conglomerate announced that its consumer diabetes business is on the chopping block.
Peterson will be taking over the reins and become responsible for the entire medical device business as the device business transforms to deal better with declining reimbursement in some markets and the overall shift to value-based care.
J&J garnered $25.1 billion in revenue for its medical device business for the full-year 2016, a slight drop of 0.1% versus the prior year. But analysts’ views of the company’s medical device business is improving. In a recent research report, Danielle Antalffy, an analyst with Leerink Partners, a healthcare investment bank wrote that she sees “JNJ as a bellwether for a device industry with stable-to-improving fundamentals overall.
