J&J appoints quality tsar to oversee manufacturing revamp

pharmafile | August 24, 2010 | News story | Manufacturing and Production J&J, JJ, recalls 

 

Johnson & Johnson plans to beef up senior management across its three business units as part of a broader programme to raise manufacturing standards across its organisation.

The company’s chief executive William Weldon plans to put in place a unified manufacturing and quality strategy under the oversight of corporate vice president Ajit Shetty.

Under the plan each of the J&J business units – consumer health, pharmaceuticals and medical devices/diagnostics – will have a new head of quality reporting to Shetty, who in turn will report directly to the chief executive.

Weldon revealed he was creating the new position in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, in which he also said that the managers of J&J’s 120 global manufacturing facilities will all report to this new unified quality group.

J&J revealed earlier this year that it was planning to restructure its manufacturing in the wake of a series of quality problems that led to a massive recall of over-the-counter products and the closure of a manufacturing facility in Fort Washington operated by its McNeil Consumer Healthcare division. 

All told, four of J&J’s manufacturing sites have been cited by the FDA for failing to maintain quality standards this year and the company is being examined by a Congressional committee and the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations over its manufacturing problems.

The manufacturing problems have led to J&J cutting its earnings forecasts for 2010 to factor in the lost revenue and costs associated with the recalls, plant shutdown and remedial actions. Last month the company said it was getting ready to share details of its restructuring initiative with the FDA.

Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson’s recent problems have made it an attractive opportunity for the likes of uber-investor Warren Buffet, who has taken advantage of the firm’s weakness to add more than 17.4 million shares of its shares to his portfolio. Buffet clearly expects significant upside potential for his stake in J&J, which is currently worth around $2.4 billion.

Related Content

J&J’s Tremfya meets primary and secondary endpoints in UC maintenance study

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has announced the first data from its phase 3 QUASAR maintenance …

J&J gains positive CHMP opinion for Rybrevant for treatment of lung cancer

Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson (J&J) company, has announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products …

FDA approves J&J’s Opsynvi for PAH treatment

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has …

Latest content