March 12, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Johnson & Johnson , the world’s biggest healthcare products company, rewarded Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky with a 48 percent increase in pay to $25 million, following fourth quarter financial results that revealed significant growth in pharmaceutical sales and other areas, the company said Thursday.
Prior to the decision, Gorsky received annual stock and option awards of $8.7 million, but that has jumped to $13.6 million with the salary hike. Gorsky assumed the top spot at Johnson & Johnson in 2012, but has been with the company since 1988. Before Gorsky succeeded Bill Weldon as CEO, he oversaw the medical devises and diagnostics groups, among others. Weldon had held the CEO spot since 2002.
Gorsky began his Johnson & Johnson career in 1988 as a sales representative with Janssen Pharmaceutica in the pharmaceuticals business. He left Johnson & Johnson in 2004 to join Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, where he served as head of the company’s pharmaceuticals business in North America. In 2008 he returned to Johnson & Johnson as company group chairman and worldwide franchise chairman for Ethicon, Inc. in the medical devices business, according to a press release issued at the time of Gorsky’s appointment.
In Johnson & Johnson’s year-end report the company reported revenue growth of 9.6 percent year over year, with a net profit increase of 18 percent year over year. The company showed sales of $18.3 billion for the fourth quarter, down .6 percent from the same time as 2013. Worldwide sales for the full year were $74.3 billion, an increase of 4.2 percent versus 2013. Pharmaceutical sales for the year were $32.3 billion, a 14.9 percent increase over 2013.
Pharmaceutical sales were driven by new products that hit the market in 2014, including Oysio/Sovriad for treatment of hepatitis C in adults; Xarelto, which is an anticoagulant; Zytiga, a medication used in combination with prednisone to treat prostate cancer; Invokana for type 2 diabetes treatment; and Imbruvica, which is used to treat blood cancers.
“We have built significant momentum in our pharmaceutical business, are realizing the benefits of innovation, scale and breadth in our Medical Devices business and are continuing our market leadership with iconic brands in our Consumer business,” Gorsky said in a statement.
During the quarter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval for the supplemental New Drug Applications for Invega Sustenna (paliperidone palmitate) to treat schizoaffective disorder. The company is expecting a robust 2015 to follow up a strong 2014.
Gorsky’s hefty pay raise was unanimously supported by Johnson & Johnson’s board of directors. Johnson & Johnson stock was trading at $100.02 per share this morning, up from $98.83 per share.
BioSpace Temperature Poll
Vertex Pharmaceuticals made news last week when it terminated leases on three properties in Cambridge, Mass, that freed up 313,000 square feet of space in the Genetown area. The company has spent a significant part of 2014 consolidating its operations on the South Boston waterfront, leasing 291,000 square feet of office space at West Kendall Street in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. So we wanted to ask the BioSpace community: Is Boston going to be getting more biotech leases anytime soon, or fewer tenants?
