Abbott Consolidates Top Leadership

Abbott’s Gonzalez: A broader charge.

Richard A. Gonzalez, president and chief operating officer for the medical products group of Abbott (Abbott Park, IL), has been promoted to the role of president and COO for all of the company’s medical and pharmaceutical products.

His promotion comes following the departure of Jeffrey M. Leiden, MD, PhD, president and COO of the pharmaceutical products group. According to the company, Leiden resigned “to pursue other career interests.”

Abbott’s White: Confident in change.

“Rick is a 29-year Abbott veteran and an exceptional leader with a proven record of achievement,” said Miles D. White, chairman and chief executive officer of Abbott. “He has created a portfolio of global medical products businesses that is delivering double-digit growth, built a strong medical products pipeline, and attracted and developed an impressive leadership team. I have great confidence that Rick will lead the organization to take advantage of the many opportunities in both areas of our business.”

Gonzalez joined Abbott in 1977 and held several positions in the company’s diagnostics division. In 2001, he was elected president and chief operating officer of the medical products division. At that time, he was also elected to Abbott’s board of directors. Prior to joining Abbott, Gonzalez was a research biochemist at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

Under the new corporate structure, leadership of Abbott’s pharmaceutical operating divisions and research and development organizations will report to Gonzalez, as will the company’s medical products division. The change of power became effective March 27.

Less than two weeks after the switchover, Abbott reported that the European Commission had cleared its proposed acquisition of the vascular business of Guidant Corp. (Indianapolis). The proposed transaction, in which Gonzalez played a key role, is currently under review by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Guidant was required to the make the divestiture as a condition of approval of its merger with Boston Scientific (Natick, MA). As part of the $6.4 billion deal, Abbott will pay $4.1 billion in cash, provide a $900 million loan to Boston Scientific, and acquire $1.4 billion in the company’s stock.

In the wake of the corporate restructuring, several analysts speculated that the promotion of Gonzalez underscored a larger shift within the company toward medical devices. A company spokesperson, however, was cited as saying the company is still committed to a diversified presence with a significant focus on pharmaceuticals.

In 2005, Abbott’s estimated medical product sales were approximately $5.9 billion, a 14% increase over 2004’s estimated sales of $5.2 billion. 1 Abbott does not provide detailed data for its medical products group sales. Abbott’s overall sales for 2005 totaled $22.3 billion, a 13% increase over 2004 sales of $19.7 billion.

Reference

1. “Majority of Top 20 Medtech Companies Post Double-Digit Sales Growth in 2005,” MX: Issues Update [online] (March 2006); available from Internet: www.devicelink.com/mx/issuesupdate/06/03/Top20.html.

© 2006 Canon Communications LLC

Return to MX: Issues Update.