By Omar Ford
Integra Lifesciences has found its next president and CEO. Healthcare industry veteran Jan D. De Witte will take over the leadership role at the Princeton, N.J.-based company.
The news comes a few months after Peter Arduini announced he would be stepping down from the role at the end of the year to become president and CEO of GE Healthcare. Arduini is set to replace Kieran Murphy who will retire from the leadership role at GE Healthcare. De Witte has a surprising tie with Arduini as he once spent 17 years in senior-level leadership roles at GE, including serving as President and CEO of GE Global Healthcare IT, where he had full global P&L responsibility for product management, technology and software development, commercialization, services and solutions delivery.
For the past five years, De Witte served as CEO of Barco N.V., a company that specializes in digital projection and imaging technology.
Integra’s special board committee on CEO succession partnered with Heidrick & Struggles to conduct a comprehensive search that included interviewing and evaluating a talented slate of internal and external candidates.
“I am honored and excited to be joining Integra and a very talented and dedicated team,” De Witte said in a release. “The company has a rich history of global leadership in neurosurgery with some of the most recognized brands in plastic and reconstructive surgery. I look forward to building on an already strong foundation to drive value for all our stakeholders. To the 3,700 employees around the world, I am delighted to join such an engaged and entrepreneurial culture and look forward to working with you to further elevate Integra’s impact around the world.”
The leadership announcement comes at a time when an advisory panel on general and plastic surgery voted against recommending FDA approval of Integra LifeSciences’ SurgiMend mesh for the specific indication of breast reconstruction, even though the device has been used in breast reconstruction for more than a decade under a 510(k) clearance.
