JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICA ADDS NEW WRINKLE TO MANAGEMENT: NEW USA PRESIDENT
Executive Summary
JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICA ADDS NEW WRINKLE TO MANAGEMENT: NEW USA PRESIDENT is Larry Pickering, who has advanced to the position from recent successes at Ortho with the anti-aging promotions for Retin-A. Pickering succeeds Ajit Shetty, PhD, in the top domestic slot at the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary. Shetty has been promoted to chief financial officer of the worldwide Janssen Group. Shetty will become manager of the financial departments in Beerse, Belgium and will join the four-member Janssen Group Executive Committee on Oct. 1. Pickering, 46, started with J&J's Ortho Pharmaceutical in 1972, joining the firm as a sales representative. He has been in charge of the introduction or re-promotion of two of the company's major drugs: Ortho Novum 7/7/7 as well as Retin-A. Moving up through the sales and management ranks at Ortho, Pickering was national sales manager for the 1983 launch of the triphasic oral contraceptive. In 1984, he was transferred to Ortho's Dermatologic Division as marketing director and was promoted to VP-general manager and a member of Ortho's management board in January 1985. While at Ortho, Pickering was the main force in the development and dissemination of information concerning tretinoin's use as a topical anti-wrinkling treatment. Pickering switched to the Janssen ranks in February 1988 as exec VP, where his primary responsibility to date, and Shetty's final project as president, was the January 1989 launch of the once-a-day non-sedating antihistamine Hismanal (astemizole) in conjunction with McNeil Pharmaceutical. Hismanal first-year sales are estimated at over $ 60 mil. in the U.S. Pharmaceutical Data Services' most recent Alpha-Gram said the drug's retail sales were annualizing at $ 48 mil. (at pharmacy acquisition cost) after six months on the market and generating in excess of 200,000 prescriptions per month ("The Pink Sheet" Aug. 7, T&G-7). The drug is currently marketed in 105 countries worldwide, and is OTC in Belgium, the U.K., Switzerland and Canada. Shetty, in his new position, will oversee the finances of a company with worldwide sales of more than $ 1.2 bil. annually. He started with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV in Beerse in 1974 as an assistant area manager, where his first responsibility was for the development of the company's presence in Asia. Shetty, 43, subsequently held several financial positions with the Janssen Group in Belgium, including finance manager, group controller and VP finance. He was brought over to Janssen USA as exec VP in 1987 and in 1988 was promoted to president. Janssen Pharmaceutica made two other recent executive promotions. The company appointed William Weldon as VP of marketing and a member of the Janssen U.S. management board and Terry Downer to the newly-created post of VP corporate development. Weldon has responsibility for sales, product management, marketing research and managed care. He started with McNeil in 1971 and has been in overseas posts since 1982. Since 1986, Weldon has been managing director of Ortho-Cilag Pharmaceutical, U.K. Downer's duties will include public and professional relations, licensing and acquisitions. He also started at McNeil and was one of five founders of J&J's Critikon medical electronics subsidiary. He moved to Janssen in 1980 and was appointed as a VP in 1981.
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