Ethicon Inc.

Ethicon, Inc. logo

Ethicon, Inc. is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. It was incorporated as a separate company under the Johnson & Johnson umbrella in 1949 to expand and diversify the Johnson & Johnson product line.

Ethicon has been the world leader in manufacturing of surgical sutures and wound closure devices for over a century. After World War II, Ethicon’s market share in surgical sutures rose from 15% to 70% worldwide.^{[citation needed]} In the United States, the market share is approximately 80%. The most popular Ethicon sutures remain PROLENE, MONOCRYL, VICRYL, and ETHILON.

Ethicon is headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey. It currently conducts business in 52 countries and employs approximately 11,000 people. In 1992, Ethicon was restructured, and Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. became a separate corporate entity. During the 1990s, Ethicon diversified into new and advanced products and technologies and formed four different companies under the Ethicon umbrella, each of which specialize in different products.

In November 2008, the Wound Management business was sold to One Equity Partners and became Systagenix Wound Management Limited. In 2009, Ethicon acquired breast implant maker Mentor

Ethicon Companies

• ETHICON products: suture products and suture technology
• GYNECARE: women's health products

Acquisition of ACCLARENT INC.

Somerville, N.J. January 20—Ethicon, Inc., announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Acclarent, Inc., following clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act. Acclarent is a medical technology company experienced in designing, developing and commercializing devices that address conditions affecting the ear, nose and throat (Known as ENT). An announcement was made with regard to the procurement of Acclarent on Dec 16th 2009.

“By bringing together the strengths and experiences of the two companies, we create a unique way to innovate in the surgical ENT space,” said Gary Pruden, Johnson & Johnson Company Group Chairman with responsibility for Ethicon. “The surgical ENT market is underpenetrated and there is opportunity to help more patients restore their quality of life with less-invasive surgical solutions. We look forward to working with Acclarent and its customers to do this.”

Further reading

• "How suture maker kept lid on infection suits: Despite recall, Ethicon said product was harmless" -(Monday, February 22, 1999; San Francisco Examiner)
• [1]
• [2]
• FDA recall