NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday named Alex Gorsky, a long-time company executive, to become chief executive officer effective April 26, 2012, the date of the company’s annual meeting. Gorsky was also nominated for election to the board of directors at company’s annual meeting.
Currently vice chairman of the executive committee with responsibility for the Medical Devices & Diagnostics Group, Global Supply Chain, Health Care Compliance & Privacy and Government Affairs & Policy, he succeeds Bill Weldon, who has been chairman and CEO since 2002. Weldon will remain chairman of the board of directors, the company said in a statement.
Gorsky is tasked with leading a company that has been battered by product recalls, lawsuits and liability expenses. Just last week McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a J&J subsidiary, recalled more than half a million bottles of Infants' Tylenol due to concerns about the product's dosing system.
Gorsky began his Johnson & Johnson career in 1988 as a sales representative with Janssen Pharmaceutica. Over a 20-year period, he advanced through the ranks of J&J to assume his current position last year.
