Mike Chuisano (pictured), vice-president and chief operating officer (COO) at healthcare company Johnson & Johnson’s corporate venturing unit, will retire at the end of the year after a 36-year career at the company.
Chuisano said he would be able to provide a quote after 1 January but is expected to remain active in healthcare and venture investing in the future.
Chuisano will remain in his role through to 1 January as he transitions venture investment portfolio responsibilities to his successor, whose appointment will be announced “shortly,” according to Tom Heyman, president of Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, the oldest corporate venturing unit in healthcare.
In a memo seen by Global Corporate Venturing, Heyman said: “Mike has transformed the JJDC portfolio to include consumer venture investments, while managing several key medical device investments.
“As an investor, he has led or co-sponsored over $200m in investments and is currently a director on the boards of seven portfolio companies, [including CVRX, ExploraMed, Entrinsic Health Solutions and First Aid Beverages, according to Chuisano’s LinkedIn profile].
“In his COO role, he supported the JJDC transition to support for Johnson & Johnson Innovation as well as maintain support for our business development groups.
“His work contributed to JJDC’s expanded capabilities and investing processes during which JJDC achieving significant investment milestones and top ranking as a corporate venturing group [with 100 investments between 2013 and 2015 deploying more than $1bn of capital].”
Chuisano began his career with Johnson & Johnson in 1980 in the engineering division of Ethicon, and held various positions in engineering, operations, research and development, sales and marketing, and within business development. In addition to Ethicon, he was part of the startup team at Ethicon Endo-Surgery and led business development for the former corporate development group of J&J, responsible for acquisitions, licensing and collaboration transactions.
On a personal level, Mike has been an advocate for children with special needs and has been deeply involved with Children’s Specialized Hospital located in New Brunswick as an adviser to boards, and a member of its marketing committee.