Medical device maker Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) formally welcomed new CEO Michael Mahoney today, officially handing him the corner office as interim CEO Hank Kucheman prepares to take on a new role.
Kucheman, who manned the ship for just over a year, today retired from his role as interim CEO and vacated his seat on the board of directors in order to make room for Mahoney, according to regulatory documents.
Following his retirement, Kucheman will hold an executive level position as a senior advisor through the end of the year, following which he will stay on in a consulting role through 2013.
Kucheman’s consulting contract stipulates a 52-day working cap at a rate of $4,500 per day, or $2,250 per half-day, representing a maximum of $234,000 for the year.
Kucheman was the executive vice president and group president of Boston Scientific’s cardiology, rhythm and vascular group before he stepped up in October 2011 to serve as interim CEO while Mahoney fulfilled the terms of a non-competition agreement signed with prior employer Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ).
Kucheman has been driving the ship, but Mahoney has played a prominent role, speaking at industry conferences and during earnings calls.
"Mike and I have worked closely and very effectively together in our respective roles over this past year," Kucheman said in the company’s most recent quarterly earnings call. "Mike Mahoney is the right leader at the right time to return BSC to its rightful place in the medical device marketplace, period."
Late last year Boston Scientific announced Mahoney as the successor to former CEO J. Raymond Elliott, who manned the corner office for 2 years before announcing his retirement in May 2011. Elliott officially retired in October 2011, on the day Mahoney joined the company.
Mahoney’s non-compete agreement with J&J prevented him form working in any business lines that compete with the rival device maker, including divisions that accounted for about 57% of Boston Scientific’s revenues last year.
Over the last year, Mahoney led Boston Scientific’s cardiac rhythm management and endoscopy units, driving progress in areas such as CRM regulatory approvals, the $1.35 billion acquisition of Cameron Health and reimbursement for the Alair bronchial thermoplasty system, according to a company statement.
He’ll certainly have his hands full moving forward as he officially takes charge of the medtech titan. Earlier this year Mahoney detailed the busy road ahead and laid out his plans for 7 of the company’s up-and-coming divisions, including for the newly acquired Cameron Health subcutaneous ICD and the highly competitive renal denervation market.
During a conference held in Marlborough, Mass., in June Mahoney described his "high-level strategy of gaining share in our core business, expanding globally, moving into some smart adjacencies that are growing quickly that leveraging our strength, and also cost productivity."
That road-map included progress for the Alair asthma therapy systems, the Cameron S-ICD, renal denervation technology, transcatheter aortic valves, semi-resorbable drug-eluting stents and the Watchman atrial closure device.