BASEL—Novartis announced that Naomi Kelman has been appointed head of the Novartis Over-The-Counter (OTC) Division and will become a permanent attendee to the executive committee of Novartis reporting to Joseph Jimenez, CEO of Novartis.

Kelman joins Novartis, effective March 2, from Johnson & Johnson where she has held several leadership roles within both the consumer and medical device and diagnostic sectors.

The Novartis OTC and Animal Health businesses will become separate Novartis divisions, in addition to the pharmaceuticals, Sandoz (generics), vaccines & diagnostics divisions. As previously announced, following the completion of the merger between Novartis and Alcon, CIBA Vision and Novartis ophthalmic medicines will be merged into the new Alcon eyecare division of Novartis.Until the close of the Alcon transaction, George Gunn will continue to manage the CIBA Vision business. Gunn will remain a member of the executive committee in his new role as head of Animal Health and, on March 2, 2011, he will additionally become responsible for corporate social responsibility for Novartis (CSR), elevating that group to the executive committee level. ■