Johnson & Johnson China Cardiovascular Head Departs Amid Leadership Overhaul

In recent years, frequent personnel changes have been seen in Johnson & Johnson's innovative pharmaceuticals sector, and shifts in leadership within the medical technology division have also occurred regularly.

Recently, Johnson & Johnson China officially announced internally that Kevin Chen (ChuHui Chen), General Manager of the Cardiovascular and Specialty Solutions (CSS) Division of Johnson & Johnson Medical Technologies China, as well as the head of External Affairs and Market Access, has submitted his resignation to the company, deciding to pursue external development opportunities. His last working day at Johnson & Johnson will be September 16, 2024.

During this transition period, Edward Zhou (President of Johnson & Johnson Medical Technology China) will assume the management responsibilities of the CSS division as well as the External Affairs and Market Access departments.

Major Shakeup in Upper Management
Frequent Personnel Changes at Johnson & Johnson Medical

Chen Chuhui is a long-time veteran of Johnson & Johnson, having joined the company in 2009. Over his 14-year tenure, he has held management positions in the Ethicon ASP division, the Endo division's ultrasonic scalpel business, as well as the Gynecare and Mentor divisions. After returning to Johnson & Johnson in 2015, Chen also took on important leadership roles such as head of channel management, strategic clients, operations, and professional education.

However, Chen Chuhui has not been appointed to lead the CSS Division for a long time. On March 31, 2023, Chen Xi, the former General Manager of Johnson & Johnson Medical Technology's Cardiovascular and Specialty Solutions Division in China, resigned. Afterwards, Chen Chuhui took over the position. To date, Chen Chuhui has been serving as the General Manager of the CSS Division for just over a year and a half. During this period, Chen Chuhui has also led the CSS Division to continuously move forward.

Following Johnson & Johnson's sweeping reforms and renewal, there has been a major "shake-up" of policies within the company. In March 2022, the medical device business was officially renamed Johnson & Johnson Medical Technologies. Over the past year, the top leadership of Johnson & Johnson Medical has also seen frequent changes.

Table 1. Personnel Changes at Johnson & Johnson Medical

Source: Collated from public information

With the change in senior management, Johnson & Johnson has also entered a new stage of development.

Regarding Chen Chuhui's departure, Johnson & Johnson stated that since assuming the role of General Manager of the CSS Division, Chen Chuhui has led the team in fulfilling a steadfast commitment to patients and customers, continuously exploring business growth opportunities and models, driving digital innovation, and further strengthening and enhancing the competitiveness and cohesion of the team. Currently, CSS China has become an important growth engine for the Asia-Pacific region and even globally.

It is reported that in the past two years, Chen Chuhui has also served as the Vice President of External Affairs and Market Access, working closely with various business and functional departments. He has continuously improved the external affairs of Johnson & Johnson Medical Technology China, as well as the end-to-end market access strategy implementation and execution. He successfully completed the volume-based procurement of several important products and efficiently promoted the commercialization process of medical products.

Multiple Major Acquisitions
Cardiovascular Business Continues to Grow

Johnson & Johnson, once the "leader" in the medical device field, has been gradually surpassed by Medtronic after selling Cordis and exiting the cardiovascular stent business in 2015. The scale of China's medical market has reached a trillion-yuan level, making it the second-largest market globally and one of the key development focuses for Johnson & Johnson Medical. However, over the past few years, the centralized procurement initiatives have impacted Johnson & Johnson Medical’s standing in the medical device sector, affecting its businesses in orthopedics, surgery, ophthalmology, cardiovascular, and more. Like other multinational corporations (MNCs), Johnson & Johnson has been unavoidably swept into the torrent of volume-based procurement.

In recent years, Johnson & Johnson Medical has heavily invested in paving the way for its cardiovascular business. In just three years, Johnson & Johnson has acquired four medical device companies in the cardiovascular field, strengthening its presence in this area. Currently, Johnson & Johnson's acquisition spending in this field has exceeded 30 billion US dollars.

Table 2. Johnson & Johnson's Recent Acquisitions in the Cardiovascular Field

Source: Collated from public information

Among them, multiple acquisitions amounted to billions, a scale so large that it astonished observers in the history of medical device acquisitions. With billions invested, Johnson & Johnson successfully acquired Abiomed, which owns the world’s only FDA-approved interventional artificial heart, also known as "the world's smallest artificial heart," and Shockwave, a company fiercely contested by major industry players. High costs brought high returns, and Johnson & Johnson Medical’s half-year report did not disappoint.

On July 17, Johnson & Johnson announced its semi-annual report for 2024. The report showed that in the first half of 2024, Johnson & Johnson’s medical technology business achieved revenue of $15.778 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.3%. Although the growth rate has slowed, various segments continued to grow:
Surgical procedures: $4.904 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 2.5%;
Orthopedics business $4.652 billion, up 3.2% year-over-year;
Cardiovascular business $36.79, a year-on-year increase of +17.8%;
Ophthalmology Business: $2.543 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 2.5%.

Among them, the cardiovascular business has grown rapidly, becoming the Johnson & Johnson Medical Technology business segment with the highest revenue growth. The Johnson & Johnson management also stated that Johnson & Johnson is making a strong push into the cardiovascular device business. In a field with significant unmet needs, Johnson & Johnson has tremendous opportunities to gain premium pricing for differentiated innovation.

An analysis of the cardiovascular business reveals that the electrophysiology business has shown promising growth. Johnson & Johnson's electrophysiology business reached $2.667 billion in the first half of the year, representing a year-on-year increase of 16.5%. This growth was driven by an increase in the number of global surgeries, new product launches (QDOT OCTARAY, Carto ELEVATE, Carto SoundFAM), and commercial promotion.

Conclusion

Behind the growth, several blockbuster products are awaiting launch, alongside the completion of multiple significant acquisitions. Together, we look forward to Johnson & Johnson Medical’s outstanding performance in 2024.

References:
1. "Johnson & Johnson Changes Leadership! China Region Welcomes New Leader" Eshare Medical Device Hub

Editor: Mu Mian

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