Stryker names new president and chief executive officer

Stryker has named Kevin Lobo as its new president and chief executive officer (CEO), as well as appointing him to its board of directors.

Mr Lobo has been promoted to the key leadership role effective immediately and succeeds interim CEO Curt Hartman, who has chosen to leave the company but will stay on as an advisor to ease the transitional process.

The new CEO possesses around 25 years of business experience and has held key positions at healthcare companies such as Johnson and Johnson, where he rose to the position of president of the multibillion-dollar business Ethicon Endo-Surgery.

He joined Stryker in April 2011 and was most recently the group president of Stryker Orthopaedics, where he proved to be a highly effective and trusted leader.

William Parfet, non-executive chairman of the board, said: "We are excited about Stryker's future under Kevin and believe our shareholders and all stakeholders will benefit from his leadership."

Stryker has been without a permanent CEO since Stephen MacMillan stepped down for family reasons in February 2012.