Smith & Nephew, a global medical technology business, has named Namal Nawana as its new chief executive officer, it was reported yesterday.

Nawana has joined the company from medical diagnostics company, Alere, where he was also chief executive officer, and managed its USD5.3bn acquisition by Abbott last year. Prior to Alere, Nawana spent more than 15 years at Johnson & Johnson, primarily in its medical devices and diagnostics segment.

Roberto Quarta, chairman of Smith & Nephew, said, 'Namal has the experience as a CEO of a major listed company in the healthcare sector, and has demonstrated that he can energise businesses to deliver better performance and greater value to shareholders.'