Dive Brief:
- Medtronic has changed its investor relations leadership team in preparation for spinning off its diabetes division, the company said on Friday.
- Ryan Weispfenning, vice president and head of investor relations at Medtronic, is moving to the diabetes spinout MiniMed. Weispfenning will establish and lead the investor relations function at MiniMed.
- Medtronic has hired Ingrid Goldberg to replace Weispfenning as its vice president and head of investor relations. Goldberg previously held a similar position at Novocure.
Dive Insight:
In May, Medtronic outlined plans to spin out its diabetes unit to create a standalone company called MiniMed. On an earnings call in November, Medtronic CFO Thierry Pieton said the planned separation was on track. Medtronic is aiming to complete the separation by the end of 2026, with its preferred path being a MiniMed initial public offering and subsequent split-off.
Investor relations will be a key function if MiniMed is to join public markets. Weispfenning has elected to take up the challenge of creating and leading the investor relations function at the diabetes spinout. The departing executive has worked on Medtronic’s investor relations team for 17 years, the last 10 of which were spent as leader of the function.
Medtronic said Weispfenning’s experience and leadership will be important as it works to turn MiniMed into an independent, publicly traded company. The medtech company named Weispfenning’s strong relationships with analysts, investors and other stakeholders among the things he will bring to MiniMed.
With its long-serving head of investor relations leaving, Medtronic has appointed Goldberg to fill the vacancy. Goldberg previously worked as vice president of finance and investor relations at Novocure, the developer of a medical device for treating some cancers.
Since leaving Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldberg has mostly worked in medtech investor relations. The new Medtronic executive led investor relations at Abiomed, the heart device company that is now part of Johnson & Johnson. Goldberg also led investor relations at the cell and gene therapy developer Bluebird Bio.
