Staff Report

WARSAW – Johnson & Johnson announced Friday, Nov. 12, that it will spin off its consumer health products so it can focus more on pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Warsaw is home to DePuy Synthes and is J&J’s largest medical device manufacturer.

“We think these have evolved as fundamentally different businesses,” J&J Chief Executive Alex Gorsky said in a prepared statement.

The pharmaceutical and medical devices unit will retain the Johnson & Johnson name, the company said.

The planned separation “underscores our focus on delivering industry-leading biopharmaceutical and medical device innovation and technology with the goal of bringing new solutions to market for patients and healthcare systems, while creating sustainable value for shareholders,” Gorsky said.

The company said the new consumer health company would be a leading global consumer health company, touching the lives of over one billion consumers with brands such as Neutrogena, Tylenol, Listerine and BAND-AID.

J&J said the new firm would be publicly-traded.

Pharmaceutical and medical devices sales significantly overshadow consumer health product sales.

The transition is expected to take years and it’s unclear how any of this could impact DePuy, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 1998 before merging and adding the name Synthes.

Reuters news service described the change, which could take up to two years, as “the biggest shake-up in the company’s 135-year history.”