Smith & Nephew appoints Ajay Dhankhar as chief corporate development & strategy officer

(Sharecast News) - Medical technology company Smith & Nephew said on Monday that it has appointed Ajay Dhankhar as chief corporate development & strategy officer with immediate effect. It said that as both a senior management consultant and investment banker, Dhankhar has advised CEOs and boards at some of the world's leading healthcare companies, helping deliver "substantial shareholder value".

His experience includes 25 years with McKinsey & Company where he was a senior partner and held multiple leadership roles including Global Head of Strategy across all industries, Global Head of Strategy and M&A for Life Sciences and Global Head of Life Sciences R&D.

Following that, Dhankhar served as a managing director in the financial advisory healthcare group of Lazard, where he was the Global Head of Medical Technology, Diagnostics and Tools.

More recently, he founded and led Bluish Capital, a strategy and financial advisory firm focused on deploying growth capital to support high quality, recently FDA approved assets.

Chief executive Deepak Nath said: "Ajay's unique blend of scientific rigor, strategic insight, business development, integrations, and operational excellence, combined with his entrepreneurial leadership style, makes him exceptionally well-suited to help shape our future. We are pleased to have him join our leadership team at this exciting time for the company."