Johnson & Johnson will replace Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky with another veteran company executive starting next year.

The world's biggest maker of health care products said late Thursday that Joaquin Duato will become CEO and a member of the company's board of directors on Jan. 3.

Duato, 59, currently serves as vice chairman of J & J's executive committee, which involves working with the company's pharmaceutical and health sectors and overseeing its global supply chain.

Duato, a dual citizen of Spain and the United States, has been with Johnson & Johnson for more than 30 years, the company said.

Gorsky, 61, has served as chairman and CEO since 2012 and will become executive chairman of the board. He said in a prepared statement from the company that the timing was right for his decision, both for the company and personally, “as I focus more on my family due to family health reasons.”