Ethicon, Inc. is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. It was incorporated as a separate company under the Johnson & Johnson umbrella in 1949 to expand and diversify the Johnson & Johnson product line.

Ethicon has been the world leader in manufacturing of surgical sutures and wound closure devices for over a century. After World War II, Ethicon’s market share in surgical sutures rose from 15% to 70% worldwide.[citation needed] In the United States, the market share is approximately 80%. The most popular Ethicon sutures remain PROLENE, MONOCRYL, VICRYL, and ETHILON.

Ethicon is headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey. It currently conducts business in 52 countries and employs approximately 11,000 people.