Dive Brief:
- The U.S. president of Johnson & Johnson’s orthopedics business is leaving as the company works to spin out the segment.
- Leslie Storms shared details of her departure in a LinkedIn post last week. Storms worked at J&J for 18 years, culminating in an almost three-year stint as U.S. head of its orthopedics business.
- News of Storms’ departure comes six weeks after J&J committed to spinning out its orthopedics business to create a standalone company that would compete with firms like Stryker and Zimmer Biomet.
Dive Insight:
J&J named Namal Nawana as worldwide president of its orthopedics business, DePuy Synthes, in October. The appointment put the former Smith & Nephew CEO in charge of leading DePuy during and after its separation from J&J.
Nawana will need to manage that process without the input of Storms. The departing executive said in a post published in late November that she was leaving J&J this month.
When J&J disclosed the spinout plan, analysts including Needham’s Mike Matson said DePuy’s rivals could initially benefit from the separation. Ultimately, though, the analysts expect the separation to strengthen DePuy.
Storms wrote that she leaves J&J “‘prepped’ for my next chapter.” She started a new role Monday as president of Ethos Veterinary Health, a network of specialty and emergency care facilities under National Veterinary Associates.
While Storms most recently worked in orthopedics, she has held jobs in other areas of the medtech industry over the past decade. Before taking on the orthopedics role, Storms spent five years in J&J’s surgery unit and held the title of president of the U.S. business. Storms worked in J&J’s vision business, which sells devices such as contact lenses and laser refractive surgery machines, before joining the surgery unit.
