The finance chief of drug distributor Cencora is retiring this summer.
James Cleary, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Cencora, will step down from his roles at the end of June, the drug distributor said Tuesday. He will officially retire from his roles on June 30, but remain at the company through the end of the year as an adviser.
The Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based company has hired an executive search firm to find a replacement.
Cleary was appointed to the top finance position at Cencora in 2018. Prior to that, he was CEO of animal health company MWI Veterinary supply, which Cencora acquired in 2015.
Cleary is the second CFO of a drug distributor to announce their retirement this month. Britt Vitalone, the CFO of McKesson, announced his retirement earlier this month after more than eight years in the role.
Cleary’s retirement came as a surprise to analysts, according to research notes published Tuesday morning. Still, they were reassured that Cleary would be staying at Cencora in an advisory role ahead of the company providing guidance in the fall for 2027.
“While we were not expecting a second distributor CFO to retire, James (Jim) Cleary has had a successful last 7.5 years as CFO, and we appreciate that he is staying on as an advisor through the remainder of the year,” Leerink analyst Michael Cherny said in a research note.
The CFO oversaw an approximately 14% growth in Cencora’s earnings per share through last year, according to a research note from J.P. Morgan.
The company, formerly known as AmerisourceBergen, has recently expanded more into specialty service offerings. In December, Cencora said it would acquire a majority stake in OneOncology, a platform for cancer care practices, for $5 billion. It was the second specialty acquisition for Cencora in 2025, after it bought a majority stake in Retina Consultants of America, a management services organization.
Cencora has also contended with lawsuits stemming from the opioid epidemic. Last year, the company’s leadership agreed to pay more than $111 million to settle allegations that they failed to stop Cencora from perpetuating the opioid crisis. It was the latest settlement for Cencora, which has agreed to pay billions to resolve opioid-related litigation.
Also on Tuesday, Cencora reaffirmed its 2026 guidance for adjusted EPS of between $17.45 to $17.75.
