McKesson CEO and chairman John Hammergren will retire, effective March 31, 2019, the company announced last week.
COO and president Brian Tyler will take over Hammergren’s position, effective April 1, 2019. He’ll also retain his role as president. Tyler has been with McKesson for 21 years, holding positions such as chairman of the management board of McKesson Europe and executive vice president of corporate strategy and business development.
Additionally, Edward Mueller, the lead independent director on the company’s board, will succeed Hammergren as an independent chairman of the board.
In a statement, Hammergren commented on the change:
It has been an honor to serve as McKesson’s CEO for nearly 20 years. We are making solid progress with our strategic growth initiative and the company is in a strong financial position. This is the right time to turn the leadership reins over to the next generation and no one is better equipped than Brian to lead McKesson into the future.
But Hammergren’s tenure wasn’t without problems. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, he faced criticism over his pay and his handling of the opioid crisis. In 2017, shareholders rejected McKesson’s executive compensation packages, including Hammergren’s $21.1 million package, according to WSJ.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
San Francisco, California-based McKesson has ties to numerous healthcare sectors. It provides medical supplies, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, health IT solutions and pharmacy management software.
In 2017, the company sold its hospital and health system IT business, Enterprise Information Solutions, to Allscripts for $185 million.
That same year it wrapped up its acquisition of CoverMyMeds, a maker of technology to automate medication prior authorizations.
In March 2017, McKesson and Change Healthcare Holdings completed the creation of a new IT company called Change Healthcare. The deal combined the majority of McKesson Technology Services’ businesses with Change Healthcare Holdings.
The San Francisco company isn’t the only well-known healthcare organization that has seen changes in the C-suite in 2018. Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush stepped down in June. Cerner also had a few alterations. Brent Shafer took the reins as CEO earlier this year, and president Zane Burke stepped down from his role on November 2.
Photo: Yuri_Arcurs, Getty Images
