Getinge Woes Continue as CEO Resigns

Getinge CEO Johan Malmquist is stepping down after 18 years with the medical device company--though he insists that the U.S. FDA's ongoing investigation of the Swedish medical device maker has nothing to do with the decision, according to Qmed's sister publication European Medical Device Technology.

Alex Myers, who served between 2009 and 2013 as executive vice president at Getinge's extended care unit, will replace Malmquist as CEO in March. Read the full EMDT story here.

An FDA scare sent Swedish medtech firm Getinge's stock tumbling 20% in a single day in early March. The stock never really recovered after that, and its stock was down 19.2% for all of 2014--one of the worst stock performances among the world's largest medical device companies.

After its stock tanked early in 2014, confidence never really recovered when the company reported in the middle of the year that its dialog with the FDA is "creating uncertainty regarding the short-term earnings outlook."

Complicating matters is that sales growth for its products in emerging markets was growing at a slower rate than it anticipated while sales in North America and Europe have remained sluggish.

Based in Getinge, Sweden, the company makes surgical, intensive care, infection control, care ergonomics, and wound care technology.

Its stock was trading at 184 Swedish krona (around $22) per share at the close of business on January 22. Malmquist has said he expects the FDA investigation to conclude by February.

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed and MPMN. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.

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