(This story has been posted on The Wall Street Journal Online's
Health Blog at http://blogs.wsj.com/health.)
By Jonathan D. Rockoff
Sheri McCoy, during her tenure running Johnson & Johnson's
pharmaceuticals group, was the highest-ranking woman in the
industry. Now, she's leaving to run a beauty business, Avon
Products.
McCoy's losing the horse race to become J&J's CEO in
February disappointed women in and around the pharmaceutical
industry, whose executive ranks are dominated by men. J&J's
choice, Alex Gorsky, is considered a more than worthy pick, but
McCoy was also considered capable and would have been a role model
for the many women making their way up Big Pharma ladders.
"Where we see women in CEO roles is not in the Rx business,"
said DeeDee DeMan, founder and chief executive of search firm Bench
International.
DeMan hopes the state of affairs will change, and says McCoy
might be the first woman to run a drug maker, after further
validating her worth at Avon. Yet there are plenty of examples of
high-ranking women in Big Pharma who have departed. At J&J, for
instance, McCoy had followed Chris Poon as the company's
highest-ranking female after Poon retired and took a job in
academia.
All this said, J&J and its rivals have nurtured the talents
of a number of women now climbing various company management ranks.
At J&J, a spokesman pointed out, women lead its commercial
pharmaceutical businesses in North America, Europe and Asia.
"Johnson & Johnson is committed to having a robust pipeline
of diverse business leaders, and we are proud of our record of
promoting and developing women leaders in our company. Sheri McCoy
made important contributions across Johnson & Johnson
throughout her career, and we continue to cultivate other talented
women in prominent leadership roles, " the J&J spokesman
said.
-For continuously updated news from The Wall Street Journal, see WSJ.com at http://wsj.com.