In a statement announcing the move, Gorsky said his decision to step aside is due in part to “family health reasons.” But he added that, “this is the right time for the company as our organization is delivering strong performance across all three segments and is positioned for continued success.”

Employed by J&J since 1988, as CEO Gorsky is credited with stemming the company’s largest acquisition, the $30 billion takeover of Actelion in 2017. This gave the buyer a portfolio of pulmonary arterial hypertension therapies, which had sales of $3.15 billion in 2020. The departing CEO also honed the focus on oncology, which accounted for $12.37 billion in 2020 sales.

Duato has been with the New Jersey-based healthcare company for 30 years, the past three years in his current position. Prior to this, he headed the pharmaceuticals franchise from 2011. As vice chairman of the executive committee, he has responsibility for J&J’s pharmaceuticals and consumer health performance.

Amid the praise, Gorsky’s tenure also has been marked by negative publicity, including the mountain of ongoing lawsuits alleging that J&J’s iconic baby powder caused ovarian cancer. Also on his watch, the company – together with three drug distributors – agreed to pay a $26 billion settlement to resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits with US state attorneys.

Dusting off the company’s reputation as a vaccine maker, J&J stepped up to the plate last year with the launch of its single-dose viral vector vaccine against Covid-19, although this may turn out to be a mixed blessing for Gorsky’s legacy. Apart from the incidences of rare blood clots, which has led authorities to mandate warning labels for the shot’s packaging, the manufacturer also has been obliged to include a label warning of an increased risk of the immune disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome.

The problems at CDMO partner Emergent, whose Baltimore, Maryland, plant was closed by the US Food and Drug Administration after employees mixed up ingredients for its vaccine with those of AstraZeneca have likewise cast a shadow, with millions of doses having to be discarded.

J&J and Aspen slammed for exporting vaccines to Europe

Most recently, J&J has come under fire for shipping doses of the Covid vaccine filled and finished at South African CDMO partner Aspen Pharmacare to Europe. Last week, it was revealed that part of Aspen’s output was being redirected to make up for doses discarded in the Emergent mix-up.

According to EU data quoted by the Reuters news agency, J&J is behind in supplying Europe, as well as Africa, having delivered only 21.5 million doses to the EU to date, despite a contract to deliver 55 million by the end of June. Nevertheless, only 12.9 million doses, or about 60% of the shipments so far, have been administered in the 27 countries, due to health concerns. The bloc has promised to donate at least 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to poorer nations, mostly in Africa, by the end of 2021.

Although South Africa ordered 31 million doses of J&J's shot in April, most of the order still has not been filled, US newspaper New York Times reported.  Only 7.2% of the country's population is said to have been vaccinated so far. To remedy the situation, J&J said the Aspen plant would exclusively supply doses to African countries later this year.

Separately, the World Heath Organization and international NGOs have criticized the contract the South African government signed with the vaccine maker, which not only prohibits the country from banning exports, a practice used by the EU as well as India, but protects it from lawsuits by third parties.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist