Cordis president to step down, other execs reshuffled
 | |
| Todd Pope to step down as president of Cypher stent division. Source: www.dimbulb.typepad.com | |
Pope, who joined Cordis in 2006, will leave July 11 to pursue opportunities outside Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and spend more time with his family, said Cordis spokesman Chris Allman.
In recent years, the drug-eluting stent (DES) market has been controlled by Cordis’ Cypher and Boston Scientific’s Taxus. However, Medtronic’s Endeavor entered the U.S. market in February, and Abbott’s Xience V is expected to be introduced before the year’s end, which will add more competition in a narrow market.
Cordis is currently developing next-generation stents, but is widely considered to be behind its rivals in its sales efforts, according to the Star-Ledger.
Cordis said it will continue to be led by Seth Fischer, the global chairman for the J&J unit, who replaced Rick Anderson in January.
Other departures in upper management include Chief Medical Officer David Kandzari; Sales Vice President Mark Valentine; Health Economics Vice President Brian Firth and his replacement Liesl Cooper; and Vice President of Clinical affairs Denis Donohoe.
Allman said that Donohoe and Firth are both retiring and that Kandzari left to pursue his medical practice.