Alex Gorsky - Johnson And Johnson Ceo

Alex Gorsky is an American businessman. He has been the Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson since April 26, 2012. On July 29, 2014, IBM selected him as one of the board of directors for the company.

Biography

Early life

Alex Gorsky graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He spent six years in the United States Army, finishing his career with the rank of captain and earning the Ranger tab and Airborne wings. He served in Europe, the United States, and Panama. In 1996, he obtained a master's in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Career

He spent eight years (having started in 1988) in various sales, marketing, and management roles at Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Johnson & Johnson unit based in New Jersey. He joined Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in 2004 as Chief Operating Officer and Head of General Medicines.

He was appointed Head of Pharma North America and Chief Executive Officer of Novartis in fall 2005. He oversaw the growth of its cardiovascular franchise, which included products Diovan and Lotrel, and the launch of Enablex, a product for overactive bladder. He was also involved in the launch of Focalin XR for ADHD. During his tenure, he developed Novartis' Medicare strategy and created several Novartis awards.

He rejoined Johnson & Johnson, where he served as the worldwide chairman of the surgical care group at Johnson & Johnson and as the chairman of the company's pharmaceutical business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He was the worldwide chairman of the medical devices and diagnostics group at Johnson & Johnson, serving in that role until September 2009. He now serves as CEO.

He has been involved in the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Alliance on Aging, the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, the Doylestown Hospital Board, and the Boy Scouts of America.

Gorsky managed the marketing of Risperdal while at Johnson & Johnson using a strategy that downplayed the drug's side-effects, encouraged off-label use, and provided kickback payments to Omnicare, a company which provided drug services to nursing homes. Ultimately the fines for this conduct cost Johnson & Johnson $2.2 billion.

References

External links

• Wharton biography
• Johnson & Johnson biography