Tag Archive for: CEO

Tom Afzal Joins Novum Medical as Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Life Science Partner has recruited Tom Afzal to become Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of Novum Medical.

Novum Medical is a private, medical device and orthopedics company developing advanced orthobiomaterials that are structurally sound and compatible to the body. Having shown success with their current applications in extremities, the company is entering the spine industry with their first cervical implant device (currently in FDA IDE clinical trials). The technology has already shown promising and superior results when compared to other implants such as titanium or PEEK plastic.

Tom Afzal

Afzal is a leader in the spine, orthopedic and cardiovascular industries. He will lead Novum in transforming the spine surgery and orthopedic markets, while continuing the growth of the company. As a co-Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Spinal Kinetics, Afzal brought his company to profitability and led the commercial strategy for their artificial discs. He also gained extensive experience building international businesses across Europe, raising sales to over 60,000 implants in over 20 countries.

Prior to Spinal Kinetics, Afzal was the Chief Executive Officer of Cardiovention. He raised $45 M from venture capital firms, established U.S., German, and Swiss sales organizations, filed his own patents, and helped create a team to develop minimally invasive products for cardiovascular surgery.

Afzal spent the early 90s working overseas in Germany for Life System Medizintechnik and Krauth Medical, achieving annual revenue growth and leading Life System through its acquisition by Krauth Medical. He graduated from San Diego State University majoring in Business Administration and minoring in Finance.

Afzal will play a critical role in raising funds for Novum Medical with his financing background and connections in the spine, cardiovascular and sports medicine industries. As the company completes its FDA IDE clinical trials for their Vitrium cervical interbody spinal fusion device, Afzal will leverage his strengths in commercial and operational leadership to advance the company to its next level of growth.

Novum Medical is a private, medical device and orthopedics company developing advanced orthobiomaterials that are structurally sound and compatible to the body. Having shown success with their current applications in extremities, the company is entering the spine industry with their first cervical implant device (currently in FDA IDE clinical trials). The technology has already shown promising and superior results when compared to other implants such as titanium or PEEK plastic.

Afzal is a leader in the spine, orthopedic and cardiovascular industries. He will lead Novum in transforming the spine surgery and orthopedic markets, while continuing the growth of the company. As a co-Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Spinal Kinetics, Afzal brought his company to profitability and led the commercial strategy for their artificial discs. He also gained extensive experience building international businesses across Europe, raising sales to over 60,000 implants in over 20 countries.

Prior to Spinal Kinetics, Afzal was the Chief Executive Officer of Cardiovention. He raised $45 M from venture capital firms, established U.S., German, and Swiss sales organizations, filed his own patents, and helped create a team to develop minimally invasive products for cardiovascular surgery.

Afzal spent the early 90s working overseas in Germany for Life System Medizintechnik and Krauth Medical, achieving annual revenue growth and leading Life System through its acquisition by Krauth Medical. He graduated from San Diego State University majoring in Business Administration and minoring in Finance.

Afzal will play a critical role in raising funds for Novum Medical with his financing background and connections in the spine, cardiovascular and sports medicine industries. As the company completes its FDA IDE clinical trials for their Vitrium cervical interbody spinal fusion device, Afzal will leverage his strengths in commercial and operational leadership to advance the company to its next level of growth.

About Life Science Partner Executive Search

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds in medicine, science, and industry enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Peter Wehrly Joins Vivex Biologics as Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Life Science Partner is pleased to announce the recruitment of Peter Wehrly as Chief Executive Officer with Vivex Biologics.

Vivex Biologics is a leading regenerative medicine company that markets tissue technology products and cellular therapies focused on orthopaedic applications with an emphasis on spine related therapies. They have a diverse portfolio of current products including cellular bone matrices, amniotic tissue, general orthopaedics, and sports medicine products to meet the therapeutic demand in the areas of spine, dental, sport medicine, and wound care. 

Peter Wehrly

Vivex is preparing for its next stage of growth with the launch of its VIA Disc product, a paradigm-changing treatment for Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD). As the company moves into the biologics space, it sought a seasoned Chief Executive to lead the company through its next stage of growth.

Wehrly is a leader in the spine and orthobiologics industries and will help lead Vivex Biologics’ expansion of their sales force and guide the company through continued growth. He is a strategic leader with a broad background in growth and operational efficiencies within public and private companies in the medical device industry. Prior to joining Vivex, Wehrly served as Chief Executive Officer with Synaptive Medical, where he led a global team launching the 2nd generation disruptive surgical robotic technology portfolio across North America, Western Europe, and Asia.

He was also Chief Executive at PQ Bypass, where he led a cross-functional team in gaining CE Mark for their Detour System, a technology designed to advance the treatment of long-segment peripheral artery disease, and approval to embark on their PMA trial in the US and Europe.

Previously, Wehrly served as Group President for Covidien where he turned around the Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions business and was later responsible for the Vascular Therapies business. Wehrly is a seasoned executive in the spine industry having led several divisions of Medtronic including Spinal and Biologics for 8 years. He played an integral role in their global market leadership positions and saw them grow from $500M to over $2.8B in compound annual growth rate.

Wehrly will play a pivotal role in helping Vivex Biologics during its next stage of growth and development as they launch a new product in the biologics space, leveraging his expertise in the spine industry and his commercial and operational strengths to ensure continued growth and preparation for a future financing event.

About Life Science Partner

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Mark Alvarez Joins Irrimax as Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Life Science Partner is pleased to announce the recruitment of Mark Alvarez to Irrimax, where he will serve as Chief Executive Officer.

Irrimax is an Atlanta-based medical technology company that is redefining wound irrigation with Irrisept, the only FDA-cleared medical device for irrigation containing the proven antiseptic chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG).

Alvarez was most recently Chairman, President & CEO of BC Technical, a healthcare services company focused on diagnostic imaging solutions for hospitals & clinics across the US. BCT was acquired in 2017 by Alpha Source, a portfolio company of Baird Capital. Prior to his BC Technical role, Mark was Chairman-Elect & COO of Microtek Medical (Nasdaq:MTMD), a global manufacturer of custom infection control products acquired by Ecolab.

“Mark is a high-energy executive who has demonstrated the ability to fund, grow, and sell small to mid-sized healthcare companies but also has held P&L responsibility in a large global medtech organization,” commented Tom Callaway, MD, MBA, President of Life Science Partner. “His strategic experience in the infection control space will be indispensable to Irrimax during this important inflection point in the company’s growth.”

Alvarez earned a MBA from Illinois State University, a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Louisville, and has completed multiple executive programs at the GE Leadership Institute. He is a former professional tennis player and lives in Atlanta.

About Life Science Partner Executive Search

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Pamela Goldberg Joins Medical Device Innovation Consortium as President, CEO

Life Science Partner is pleased to announce the recruitment of Pamela Goldberg to lead the Medical Device Innovation Consortium as President and Chief Executive Officer.

Prior to starting her own consulting firm in 2017, Ms. Goldberg served as the CEO of the Massachusetts Technology Collaboration, a public economic development engine designed to foster technological advancements, where she helped launch Massachusetts to national leadership for adoption and interoperability of electronic medical records and collaborated to build the health information exchange connection to the EHR.

She will succeed Bill Murray as CEO, whom Life Science Partner recruited at the organization’s inception, and is well-suited to lead MDIC into its next phase of growth and impact, building on the foundational successes of Mr. Murray and his team.

Pamela Goldberg

“Pamela’s solid entrepreneurial experience synergizing objectives for multiple government and for-profit institutions, combined with her successful leadership experience in digital health advancements, leveraging big data, and advancing healthcare technological innovation, make her uniquely suited to lead this pioneering organization,” said Tom Callaway, MD, Founder and President of Life Science Partner. “We are confident MDIC and the many stakeholders it serves will benefit greatly from her thoughtful leadership in the months and years to come.”

Ms. Goldberg has demonstrated consistent success in working across the boundaries of government, in both non-profit and private industry and with regulatory bodies to drive consensus. Previously, Ms. Goldberg served as director of The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Tufts University, a program she launched to drive innovation for the university. Ms. Goldberg received her BA from Tufts University and her MBA from Stanford University.

The MDIC, through its public-private partnership between government and regulatory agencies, non-profits, and the medical device industry, aims to advance regulatory science and bring innovative technologies to patients. MDIC coordinates the development of methods, tools, and resources used in managing the medical device life cycle to improve patient access to cutting-edge medical technology.

About the Medical Device Innovation Consortium

Founded in 2012, the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) is the first public-private partnership created with the sole objective of advancing medical device regulatory science throughout the total product life cycle. MDIC’s mission is to promote public health through science and technology and to enhance trust and confidence among stakeholders.

MDIC works in the pre-competitive space to facilitate development of methods, tools, and approaches that enhance understanding and improve evaluation of product safety, quality, and effectiveness. Its initiatives improve product safety and patient access to cutting-edge medical technology while reducing cost and time to market.

About Life Science Partner Executive Search

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

More information is available here.

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Bill Bold Joins Vestagen Technical Textiles as Chief Executive Officer

Former President and Chief Executive Officer of Vascular Pathways

Life Science Partner has recruited Bill Bold, former CEO of Vascular Pathways and senior medical device leader, to become Chief Executive Officer for Vestagen, an innovator in the development of Active Barrier fabrics and protection technology to protect the healthcare worker.

Prior to joining Vestagen, Bold turned around Vascular Pathways with product innovation and commercialization and sold the company to CR Bard for its best-in-class portfolio of peripheral vascular access technologies. “Bold is an articulate, strategic and a strong leader who recruits world-class teams to early-stage companies,” stated Tom Callaway, MD, Founder and President of Life Science Partner and Venture Partner at HealthQuest Capital, an investor in the company.

“With a track record for delivering a strong return on investment in fundraising with venture capital and private equity, Bold has the experience to lead Vestagen’s growth and profitability within the healthcare industry,” noted Callaway.

Prior to joining Vascular Pathways, Bold held executive leadership roles for both early stage and corporate divisions of medical device companies such as Access Scientific, Venetec, Medibuy and CR Bard.

Bold earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing from West Chester University.

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Bill Murray Joins MDIC as Chief Executive Officer

Former President and CEO of ReShape Medical

Life Science Partner recruited Bill Murray, to become the President and Chief Executive Officer for the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC), the first-ever public-private partnership created to advance medical device regulatory science and technology environment.

Murray has over 25 years of senior leadership experience spanning the range of privately financed start-up to billion dollar plus global businesses. Murray’s small company experience spans 5 years as CEO and executive consultant, including 3 years as CEO of ReShape Medical. His large company experience includes leadership as the Molecular Biology Division President of Applied Biosystems, and at Medtronic where he spent nearly 20 years in various senior leadership positions, including President of the Pacemaker Business.

Murray has also served as interim President and CEO of MTS Systems (MTSC) a public $500M industrial technology company. He currently serves on the Boards of MDIC, ILT, Sonex Health and Meso-FLow and previously served on the Boards of MTS Systems, LifeSync Holdings, and ReShape Medical.

Murray earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida.

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Brian Lundstrom joins Windy Hill Medical as Chief Executive Officer

Life Science Partner recruits former Senior Vice President, Business and Commercial Development from ACADIA Pharmaceuticals

Life Science Partner announces the recruitment of Brian Lundstrom, an experienced biopharmaceutical business development executive, to Windy Hill Medical to become Chief Executive Officer for the company.

Windy Hill Medical is a California-based medical device and pharmaceutical company focused on the development of products to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer in patients deemed to be at high risk.

In Lundstrom’s previous role at ACADIA, a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule therapeutics for the central nervous system, he was responsible for developing partnerships, particularly with Asian and European pharmaceutical companies, for the company’s four clinical-stage and preclinical programs.

Prior to joining ACADIA, Lundstrom served as Vice President of Business Development and Humanized Polyclonal Antibody Program Manager for Genzyme Corporation in the areas of Oncology, Hematology Transplantation and Immunology. 

In his new role as Chief Executive Officer, he will lead the Company through an additional round of financing, the development and expansion of the clinical trial program, and commercialization of its product portfolio.

“Lundstrom is an experienced and effective global biopharmaceutical manager with a broad background in business development and partnering,” noted Tom Callaway, MD, founder and president of Life Science Partner.  “With his passion and experience, he will serve Windy Hill well in its mission to bring lasting improvements for patients with early-stage breast cancer.”

Lundstrom earned his Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering with an immunology and molecular biology focus from the Danish Technical University in Lyngby, Denmark.  He attended the Copenhagen Business School and earned a diploma in Economics in International Management.  Lundstrom received his PhD in Biochemistry from Odense University and then attended the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA for an MBA program.

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Steve Lundy Joins the MicroPhage as Chief Executive Officer

Life Science Partner recruits former Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Vermillion.

Life Science Partner announces the recruitment of Steve Lundy, a top commercial executive in early-stage diagnostics companies, to MicroPhage, an early-stage company based in Longmont, Colorado. 

Using its proprietary bacteriophage-based technology, MicroPhage is developing rapid assays for the direct identification and drug susceptibility of deadly bacterial strains such as Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA).

Most recently, Lundy was the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Vermillion, where he helped lead the company’s transformation from life sciences to a clinical diagnostics business model.

Lundy previously served as Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development for GeneOhm Sciences.  He led the launch of the IDI-MRSA(TM) assay, the first nucleic-acid based test to be cleared by regulatory agencies to replace conventional microbiological culture by directly testing the clinical specimen. GeneOhm was acquired by BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) in 2006.

“Lundy is a seasoned diagnostics industry leader who understands the market and the opportunity,” noted Tom Callaway, MD, President and Founder of Life Science Partner.  “He brings an unsurpassed depth of experience in infectious disease  diagnostics from GeneOhm to capitalize upon MicroPhage’s novel platform for MRSA detection.”

Lundy received his Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.

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Carol Gallagher joins the Metastatix, Inc. as Chief Executive Officer

Life Science Partner recruits former SVP, Corporate Development and Commercial Affairs of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Life Science Partner announces the recruitment of Carol Gallagher, an experienced biotechnology and pharmaceutical executive, to Metastatix, Inc. 

Metastatix is an emerging pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing effective, convenient and safe small-molecule drugs for a broad portfolio of indications including cancer, HIV infection and inflammation.  The company’s initial focus has been on the CXCR4 receptor, a critical mediator of cellular and chemical trafficking.

Gallagher was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Commercial Affairs for Anadys Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company committed to the development and commercialization of small-molecule medicines for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and cancer, where she was responsible for commercial and portfolio leadership, business development and strategic planning. 

Earlier, Gallagher was Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Planning for the CancerVax Corporation where she successfully led all aspects of commercial planning and product development for the launch of a Phase III oncology product and the alliance with Serono Pharmaceuticals.  Throughout her career, Gallagher held leadership positions at Biogen Idec, Agouron/Pfizer, Amgen and Eli Lilly and Company.

“Carol is a well networked and experienced marketing and commercialization executive in the field of biotechnology drug development for oncology markets,” noted Tom Callaway, MD, founder and president of Life Science Partner.  “We welcome her to our hometown of Atlanta where she’ll lead Metastatix’ broad portfolio platform through all phases of building a world class biotechnology company.”

Metastatix recently raised a $35M Series B round from a nationally recognized group of venture investors including Frazier Healthcare Ventures, HIG Ventures, SROne, Aruna, and Georgia Ventures Partners.

Gallagher earned her undergraduate degree from the College of Arts and Sciences at Vanderbilt University and received her Doctor of Pharmacy and Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Kentucky.

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Edward Cannon to join the AerovectRx Corporation as Chief Executive Officer

Life Science Partner recruits former CEO of AdipoGenix, Inc.

Life Science Partner announces the recruitment of Ed Cannon, an entrepreneurial pharmaceutical executive, to AerovectRx Corporation. 

AerovectRx is an early-stage aerosol therapeutic development company capitalizing upon its unique AeroCell™ disposable drug cartridge to improve patient compliance, eliminate multi-user cross contamination, and deliver a wide variety of vaccine and therapies.   Licensed from the Centers for Disease Control, the delivery platform has the potential to improve vaccines, pulmonary drugs, and lung-delivered therapeutics for systemic diseases.

Cannon was the founder and CEO of AdipoGenix, Inc., an early stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing a novel drug discovery technology to isolate fat precursor cells and identify small molecule drug candidates that treat obesity and its co-morbidities.  He was responsible for building a management and scientific team, creating strategy around the technology platform, and raising capital for the company.  Earlier, Cannon was the founding CEO of Elixir Pharmaceuticals, where he successfully led the team through Series A and B funding and three major discovery programs, each with a lead series of compounds.  In addition, Cannon was co-founder of Dyax Corporation where he was president of the therapeutics and diagnostics division.

“Ed is the consummate start-up biotech executive who understands the complexity of drug discovery and development, while executing on fundraising and business development activities,” noted Tom Callaway, MD, founder and president of Life Science Partner.  “Working with founder Matthew Kim, Cannon will move the company’s platform to create new aerosol therapeutics through partnerships and the company’s own molecules.”

Cannon will build a start-up team overseeing research and product development, clinical and regulatory, operations and sales and marketing.

Cannon received a Bachelor of Science degree, a Masters in Statistics and Computer Sciences and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Georgia.  He completed his postdoctoral training in Molecular Immunology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

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