Coloplast Names Former J&J MedTech EMEA Chief Gavin Wood as CEO

Coloplast has appointed Gavin Wood, most recently Company Group Chairman of Johnson & Johnson MedTech EMEA, as its president and chief executive officer, effective May 1, 2026, the company said in a regulatory announcement issued on March 4 (read via Inderes). Wood will take over from interim CEO Lars Rasmussen, who has led the company since May 5, 2025.

The appointment fills the top job after roughly ten months under interim leadership. According to the announcement, Rasmussen will continue to lead Coloplast as interim CEO until the end of April.

Two decades at Johnson & Johnson

Coloplast said Wood spent two decades in different leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson. His most recent post, as head of J&J MedTech in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, covered a multi-billion-dollar business with more than 7,000 employees working across three business units: Surgery, Orthopedics, and Cardiovascular & Specialty Solutions, the company said.

Earlier in his career, Wood led the Ethicon Wound Closure & Healing team as Worldwide President, according to the announcement. Before that, he served as Executive Vice President, Commercial, at Mölnlycke.

Wood also serves as Vice Chair of the MedTech Europe trade association, Coloplast said. He holds a law degree from Carleton University and an MBA from Queen's University, both in Canada. He is Canadian by birth, lives in Switzerland and will relocate to Denmark for the role, the company said.

Board points to growth and the Impact4 strategy

Jette Nygaard-Andersen, interim chair of the Coloplast board, said in the announcement: "Gavin is a seasoned MedTech executive with an impressive track record when it comes to creating value and driving growth." She added that the board "is confident that Gavin is the right candidate to lead the company into its next chapter of growth and value creation by delivering on the Impact4 strategy together with the rest of the Executive Leadership Team."

Nygaard-Andersen also said Wood "has led global commercial organisations, and he has an in-depth understanding of both the European and US healthcare markets."

Wood said: "I'm very excited to join Coloplast. The company has a rich history, strong innovation portfolio and a clear mission to help people live better lives." He said he looked forward to "driving continued growth of the business, investing in talent and delivering on the Impact4 strategy to generate value and impact for all our stakeholders, customers, users and patients in the future."

What happens next

Under the timetable set out by the board, Rasmussen remains in charge through April and Wood starts on May 1. Nordic Life Science reported the appointment on March 6, repeating the start date and Wood's background at Johnson & Johnson and Mölnlycke.

Coloplast issued the announcement in Danish and English and said that the English version would prevail in the event of any discrepancies. The company did not give financial terms of Wood's employment in the announcement.