Bryan Hanson has left the corner office of ortho tech giant Zimmer Biomet to become CEO of the soon-to-be-independent healthcare business at 3M, the companies announced today.
Hanson takes over 3M’s healthcare business on Sept. 1.
“I have a deep respect and admiration for what 3M has built in health care — strong brands, quality products, commercial excellence, and customer-driven innovation. I look forward to working with the team to more deeply understand and realize the potential of our business as we accelerate our path forward, and build on a legacy of trusted leadership and medical innovation,” Hanson said in a 3M news release.
Zimmer Biomet is promoting its COO Ivan Tornos to become its new CEO.
“I am grateful for Bryan’s leadership in transforming the company and am now looking forward to leading the team and accelerating our ZB strategy to drive continued growth and boldly advance the standard of musculoskeletal care,” Tornos said.
Both 3M’s healthcare business and Zimmer Biomet are among the largest medical device outfits in the world. They had $9.1 billion and $6.8 billion, respectively, in their most recent fiscal years.
Focusing Zimmer Biomet on innovation
Hanson became ZB’s CEO in 2017, roughly two years after the merger of the Warsaw, Indiana–based companies Zimmer and Biomet. He led a restructuring and refocusing of the business that included the spinoff of Zimmer Biomet’s spine and dental tech businesses into a new company called ZimVie in early 2022.
Under Hanson’s leadership, Zimmer Biomet sought to move beyond being a provider of orthopedic implants and surgical tools, embracing the industry’s shift toward digital.
During ZB’s recent Q2 2023 earnings call, Hanson noted that Zimmer Biomet has 40 planned product launches between this year and the end of 2025, the majority in 4%-plus growth markets. For example, ZB officials said they plan a full market release of their Persona IQ smart knee implant by Q1 2024, and they still expect to be first-to-market with a robotic shoulder surgery application with their Rosa platform. Zimmer Biomet continues to enhance its ZBEdge Dynamic Intelligence platform for hip and knee surgeries. In March, it announced a definitive agreement to acquire Ossis, a maker of personalized 3D-printed implants.
“The last five and a half years at the helm of Zimmer Biomet have been transformational, not just for the company, but for me, as well,” Hanson said today.
A new standalone medical device company
Hanson is also no stranger when it comes to Minnesota-based companies such as 3M. Before joining Zimmer Biomet, he was EVP and president of Medtronic’s Minimally Invasive Therapies Group, a roughly $9 billion business at the time. He came to Medtronic in 2015 via its $50 billion acquisition of Covidien. He has been group president of Covidien’s Medical Devices business since 2013. In 2011, as Surgical Solutions Group president, Hanson oversaw the transformation of two of Covidien’s largest divisions — Energy-based Devices and Surgical Devices — into one global business unit.
As he oversees the spinning out of 3M’s healthcare business, Hanson will likely draw on his experience leading transformational change. 3M’s healthcare offerings include healthcare procedure coding and reimbursement software; skin, wound care, and infection prevention products and services; dentistry and orthodontia offerings; and filtration and purification systems.
3M officials have said they remain on track to spin off the company’s healthcare business by late 2023 or early 2024. The healthcare business will stay headquartered in Minnesota during the transition period, but 3M told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis in April that the new company’s eventual management will decide on a headquarters location in the future.
Hanson’s LinkedIn page presently shows him located in New Haven, Connecticut.
Other personnel changes around Hanson’s move
Tornos, Zimmer Biomet’s new CEO, joined the company in 2018 as group president of orthopedics. He continued his ascent through the company to become COO in March 2021. Before ZB, Tornos held leadership positions at BD, C.R. Bard and Baxter.
“I cannot think of a better leader to continue to move the ZB mission forward and deliver value for patients, customers and shareholders,” Hanson said of Tornos today.
Zimmer Biomet’s lead independent director Christopher Begley said: “Ivan has consistently delivered strong results since joining Zimmer Biomet. His deep expertise in the medtech sector, commercial prowess and proven leadership experience make him the ideal leader for Zimmer Biomet as we move into our next phase of innovation and growth,”
Begley becomes the company’s board chair, effective today.
Both 3M and Zimmer Biomet had additional personnel announcements today:
- Former Humacyte CEO Carrie Cox will chair the board of 3M’s healthcare business spinoff. 3M CEO Mike Roman described Cox as an experienced leader with a deep understanding of health care across different sectors of the industry. “She has been serving as an advisor to 3M and played a key role in the selection process of Bryan as CEO.”
- 3M CFO Monish Patolawala will now also be president of all of 3M.
- Suketu (Suky) Upadhyay, who joined Zimmer Biomet in 2019 as EVP and CFO, will now also oversee the company’s global operations and supply chain.