Dr. Paul Stoffels, who serves as Johnson & Johnson’s chief scientific officer, will end his tenure on December 31.
Stoffels, who is also vice-chairman of J&J’s executive committee, was responsible for reinvigorating J&J’s Janssen pharmaceutical pipeline and was instrumental in developing a COVID-19 vaccine.
The company’s CEO and executive chairman, Alex Gorsky, is also retiring from the company, effective January 3, 2022.
Dr. Paul Stoffels
Stoffels, a Belgian, intends to spend more time with his family in Europe.
Earlier in his career, Stoffels focused on tropical-disease research and antiviral drugs.
He co-founded the antiviral firm Tibotec-Virco, which Janssen acquired in 2002, paving the way to the company’s focus on HIV drugs.
Stoffels also had a passion for tackling tuberculosis and Ebola and pushed Janssen to develop treatments for them.
In 2020, Stoffels won the Louis Pasteur Leadership Award in Public Health.
Stoffels assumed the role of global head of pharmaceutical research and development at J&J in 2009. In 2011, he became the company’s worldwide chairman of pharmaceuticals. In 2012, he assumed the role of chief scientific officer.