More than halfway through 2023, we’ve seen plenty of movement in the personnel department across medtech.
Last July, we broke down the biggest personnel moves in medtech so far in 2022. That was followed up by the full-year report in December.
Through more than eight months, the changes atop medtech companies continue to arrive. Some companies changed their structures, others brought in new talent, others even lost talent to completely different industries.
Here are the biggest personnel moves across the medtech industry — so far — in 2023:
Abbott makes executive shifts with new CFO
In June, Abbott appointed Philip Boudreau as SVP, finance, and chief financial officer (CFO). His appointment goes into effect on Sept. 1. He reports to Robert Funck, whose appointment as EVP, finance, goes into effect the same day. Funck previously held the CFO position.
Boudreau initially joined Abbott in 1997 and his most recent position came as VP and controller. Funck joined Abbott in 1989 and served as a corporate officer starting in 2005. He held the role of SVP of finance and controller before his 2020 appointment to the CFO position. He replaced the retiring Brian Yoor amid a number of changes when Robert Ford took over for outgoing CEO Miles White in early 2020.
Additionally, Abbott named John McCoy, Jr., VP, controller, also effective Sept. 1.
Baxter CFO takes the same position at GE HealthCare
Jay Saccaro left Baxter at the end of May after 21 years at the company, including the past eight as CFO. He departed to take up the title of SVP and CFO at GE HealthCare, with his appointment made effective on June 1, 2023. Baxter named Brian Stevens as acting CFO as it conducts a search to fill the role.
José (Joe) E. Almeida, Baxter chair, president, and CEO, called Saccaro ” an invaluable member of Baxter’s leadership team throughout his career.”
Beyond the Saccaro switch, both Baxter and GE HealthCare had some significant shake-ups this year.
In February, along with plans to spin off its renal care and acute therapies units, Baxter announced plans to implement a new operating model. The company expects that, once implemented, it will make it a “more integrated and nimble organization.” Baxter wants to respond to changes in the environment faster and more effectively.
GE HealthCare, meanwhile, made changes to its own setup with the appointment of its first-ever chief technology officer. The company announced in January that it named Dr. Taha Kass-Hout to the position. Before joining GE HealthCare, Kass-Hout served as VP, machine learning and CMO at Amazon and Amazon Web Services. His role there included establishing and leading health AI strategy and technologies.
Brooke Story heads up the Surgical unit at BD
BD announced in June that it named Brooke Story president of its Surgery business unit. Story, who previously served as president of the Integrated Diagnostic Solutions (IDS) unit, officially took the new role on July 3. She reports to Rick Byrd, EVP and president of the Interventional segment at BD.
“Brooke has spent more than two decades in this industry with proven leadership capabilities that help address unmet needs in health care,” said Byrd. “As president of our fast-growing Surgery business, she will be uniquely positioned to expand our impact as we deliver innovative solutions and products to surgeons around the globe.”
Story originally joined BD in March 2021 as a veteran of the medtech industry. Before BD, she spent 15 years across a range of roles at Medtronic. Her latest role came as leader of the medtech giant’s Pelvic Health and Gastric Therapies business. She oversaw solutions for treating pelvic floor disorders.
Biosense Webster tabs Brooks as its new president
Jasmina Brooks was chosen as the next president at Johnson & Johnson’s Biosense Webster earlier this year. Brooks succeeds Michael Bodner, who is now the global head of heart recovery for J&J MedTech.
The new president took on the responsibility of setting Biosense Webster’s global strategy and advancing its innovation agenda to position the company for continued growth. She has more than 25 years of experience in the cardiovascular field with a primary focus on electrophysiology.
Brooks originally joined Biosense Webster in 2014, holding numerous roles within its global strategic marketing organization. Most recently, Brooks served as VP of global strategic marketing at the AFib treatment developer. Her career history included time at GE HealthCare as well.
“It is an honor to lead Biosense Webster, with its proud legacy and unmatched capabilities in cardiac catheter ablation,” said Brooks. “I look forward to continuing to partner closely with the electrophysiology community to elevate standards of care in AFib.”
Boston Scientific picks from within to fill its chief medical officer position
Dr. Ken Stein joined Boston Scientific in 2009 as SVP and chief medical officer of its Rhythm Management business. He became the company’s chief medical officer in February of this year.
Stein took over from Dr. Ian Meredith, who retired from the role, having held it since 2017.
Before joining Boston Scientific, Stein published more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications on electrophysiology during his more than 15 years as an electrophysiologist and associate director of Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology at Weill Cornell Medical Center.
He departed Weill Cornell for the chance to be a voice for patients inside a major medical device company.
“I knew that I knew nothing about business, but I also knew that I could make sure Boston Scientific did everything we could to meaningfully improve patient outcomes,” he said.
Dexcom tabs Teri Lawver as its first chief commercial officer
At the beginning of the year, Dexcom appointed medtech veteran Teri Lawver to its newly created role of chief commercial officer (CCO).
Before joining Dexcom, Lawver spent two decades in a variety of leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson. Her positions spanned the medical device, consumer medtech and pharmaceutical sectors. Most recently, she served as worldwide VP, immunology at J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies.
The CCO position at Dexcom oversees the global commercial organization at the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology developer. She holds responsibility for global sales, marketing and customer experience. Lawver began her time at Dexcom on the front foot as, within about a month of her appointment, she was set to oversee the U.S. launch of the next-generation G7.
“Teri is an exceptional leader who has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to drive growth and skillfully navigate the global healthcare landscape,” said Kevin Sayer, chair, president and CEO at Dexcom.
She’s now taking part in the company’s recently revealed plans to bring a new sensor product to market in the U.S. in 2024. The company designed it as a new sensor for people who don’t use insulin.
Illumina’s CEO resigns amid board changes, acquisition scrutiny
DNA sequencing and array-based tech developer Illumina announced that CEO Francis deSouza resigned in June. deSouza’s departure was another hurdle for the company to overcome as it’s a series of troubles, ranging from activist investor challenges on its board to legal challenges against its proposed acquisition of Grail.
deSouza himself survived an activist investor-led challenge to his position on Illumnas’ board, although Carl Icahn’s candidate knocked the previous board chair John Thompson out of his position.
The announcement came just after Hologic CEO Stephen MacMillan became non-executive board chair at Illumina. MacMillan said the company was confident in moving forward despite the troubles, with Charles Dadswell, SVP and general counsel, serving as interim CEO.
Meanwhile, Illumina faces some expensive struggles over its $7.1 billion acquisition of Grail, a company that had only spun out of Illumina in 2016. In July, the European Commission fined Illumina approximately $478.9 million (€432 million) for alleged breaches of merger control rules. Earlier this month, the company disclosed that it’s subject to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation as well.
Insulet restructures its executive team
The automated insulin delivery technology developer in May shared plans to reshuffle its leadership team to accelerate innovation and commercialization.
In connection with the reorganization, Bret Christensen, EVP and chief commercial officer, left the company. He went on to take the corner office at DermTech, a non-invasive skin genomics platform developer.
The remainder of Insulet’s reorganization included new leadership roles, made effective on July 1, 2023. The company’s leadership team continues to report to Jim Hollingshead, Insulet’s president and CEO.
Hollingshead said the new organizational design creates “a more focused and specialized structure.” Insulet hopes it strengthens its commercial capabilities and fosters innovation and cross-functional collaboration. As a result of the changes, Eric Benjamin and Mark Field have newly created roles.
Benjamin, who served as EVP of innovation and strategy, now becomes chief product & consumer experience officer (CPXO). Field, previously the group VP of software engineering, takes over as chief technology officer. Following Christensen’s departure, Insulet separated the CCO role into two leadership positions. Through this maneuver, it hopes to drive more focused regional and local market execution. Insulet commenced a search for a U.S. GM to focus on U.S. commercial growth, go-to-market strategy and sales operations. Patrick Crannell continues at Insulet as international GM.
Intuitive Surgical has a new president
In the midst of a global expansion effort, Intuitive Surgical, the leader in surgical robotics, promoted Dave Rosa to the role of president. Rosa now leads Intuitive’s product, digital, quality, regulatory, supply chain, manufacturing and commercial teams.
The 27-year Intuitive veteran previously held key leadership positions across the business, most recently serving as EVP and chief strategy and growth officer. Rosa’s past includes roles in commercial, engineering, clinical development, marketing and product development organizations across Intuitive.
“Aligning our core business functions under Dave, a proven and outstanding leader with broad and deep experience across Intuitive, equips us to meet future opportunities to collaborate with hospitals and healthcare systems to address healthcare challenges at significant scale,” said CEO Gary Guthart.
In addition to Rosa’s promotion, Bob DeSantis assumed the newly created role of EVP and chief strategy and corporate operations officer. DeSantis leads strategic planning, operational structure and management.
iRhythm’s COO departs
In March, Douglas Devine resigned from his post as iRhythm’s chief operating officer. iRhythm attributed Devine’s resignation to its ongoing “business transformation.” Devine previously served as iRhythm’s CFO, having been appointed in July 2020.
In connection with his resignation, Devine entered into a consulting agreement with the company. Under this agreement, he will assist with the transition of his role and consult as an executive advisor through July 3, 2024.
In addition to Devine’s resignation, iRhythm announced a role change for Daniel Wilson. He previously served as EVP of corporate strategy, corporate development and investor relations. Effective March 10, Wilson became EVP of corporate development and investor relations.
The shuffle at the top at iRhythm came just before some issues came to light for the company, with an FDA warning letter involving the Zio AT mobile cardiac telemetry device. The letter, made public shortly after the announcement, accused iRhythm of violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act’s rules for labeling, quality systems and medical device reporting. In at least two cases, iRhythm did not report patient deaths in the required 30-day window, and instead reported them the following year, the FDA said.
This all landed on top of an investigation from the U.S. Justice Department.
LivaNova CEO resigns
In April, LivaNova CEO Damien McDonald resigned effective immediately, with board chair William Kozy assuming interim CEO responsibilities.
“As we move forward, I would like to express our gratitude on behalf of the board to Damien McDonald for his dedicated leadership through a challenging period of Covid and unrivaled global economic disruption,” Kozy, a former BD executive, said. “We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Needham analyst Mike Matson said at the time that McDonald’s departure came after several pipeline disappointments at LivaNova. That included its Caisson transcatheter mitral valve replacement and a heart failure indication for vagal nerve stimulation.
According to Matson, someone new in the corner office could lead to less expenses for pipeline initiatives. It could also result in additional cost reductions in administration and sales, with even a possibility of a sale to a strategic or private equity. Matson said he saw opportunities for a new CEO to create value at LivaNova.
Movement in and out of Medtronic
There has been plenty of change at the medtech giant in 2023, both in terms of incomings and outgoings.
The company kicked off the year by hiring longtime Danaher executive Scott Cundy as its chief quality officer. In the early 2000s, he held quality, regulatory and clinical roles in Medtronic’s cardiovascular portfolio. Before joining Medtronic in January, Cundy had most recently served as Danaher’s VP of quality, regulatory and clinical affairs for Diagnostics and Life Sciences Platforms.
Medtronic made a big splash with its newly created chief technology officer role in June when it appointed Ken Washington. Washington most recently served as VP and GM of consumer robotics at Amazon. He has also been the chief technology officer at Ford Motor Co.
In the role, Washington will leverage his extensive experience leading technology development and execution across industries, including robotics, consumer products, automotive and space.
On the departure side, Medtronic saw some talent heading for pastures new, too. That included Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Services President Julie Brewer leaving for the post of President of the Patient Support Systems, Global Surgical Solutions and Care Communications team at Baxter.
Additionally, Inspire Medical named VP and GM of Medtronic’s Spine & Biologics business, Carlton Weatherby, as its new chief strategy officer. Finally, in March, Medtronic EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer Carol Surface became the first chief people officer at tech giant Apple.
Other big personnel moves in medtech so far
- BD names new general counsel
- Bioventus CEO steps down
- Butterfly Network, CEO agree to part ways
- CMR Surgical has a new CEO
- Electromed tabs 30-year medtech vet as CEO
- EvoEndo picks new CEO and COO
- HeartBeam announces selection for newly created president role
- ICad CEO resigns
- Integra Lifesciences’ CFO leaves for the soup business
- Nevro has a new CEO after Grossman retires
- Smith Nephew names new chair of the company