Aperion Biologics Adds to Board of Directors

Aperion Biologics Inc., a clinical-stage regenerative medical device company, has added two members to its Board of Directors.

France Dixon Helfer currently serves as president and CEO of Halo Healthcare Inc., a medical device and diagnostics company that develops technologies for breast cancer detection. Most recently, she was the founder and CEO of Pegasus Biologics, where she raised $32 million and in less than three years, built the company into an emerging growth revenue firm that eventually was acquired by Synovis Life Systems (and more recently, Baxter International).  Helfer has held a number of executive level positions at Medtronic Inc., Xenotech Labs (founding employee, acquired by Medtronic), SORIN Biomedica, Eclipse Surgical, and MDDataDirect. Helfer currently serves on several boards (Epic Diagnostics and Epic Medical) and is a strategic advisor to Neural Analytics, Reviticell Holdings and MLM Biologics. She also is an advisor to Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, and a frequent lecturer on entrepreneurship and leadership.

Mike Ward has more than 20 years of life sciences-dedicated investment banking, venture capital and private equity experience.  During his career in investment banking, Ward executed more than 80 life sciences mergers and acquisitions, as well as financing transactions. Ward serves on the boards of Nanosphere Inc., a targeted molecular diagnostics company based in Northbrook, Ill., and CytoPherx Inc., an acute renal failure-focused therapeutic medical device company based in Ann Arbor, Mich. He previously was a director at Lurie Investments Inc., where he managed investment activities. Prior to joining Lurie Investments in 2009, Ward spent 15 years gaining investment banking experience at Credit Suisse, Prudential Securities, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, BMO and Leerink Swann.

“France and Mike bring a wealth of experience, from private equity, venture capital, entrepreneurship, product development, and business development,” Aperion CEO Daniel Lee said. “Their industry experience will be a huge asset to the company as we move forward with our Z-Lig device, the first non-human biologic device for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) of the knee.”

Based in San Antonio, Texas, Aperion Biologics is a privately owned, clinical-stage medical device company addressing the need for alternatives to human-based grafts with animal-based tissue technology.  Aperion developed and patented a technique to make animal tissues compatible for challenging human applications. This creates functioning scaffolds capable of remodeling into healthy tissue.  Aperion’s Z-Process is applicable to various tissues used in orthopaedic, cardiovascular, plastic, dermatologic, general and other surgical specialties.

The company’s lead product for ligament reconstruction procedures, the Z-Lig ACLR Device, currently is in clinical investigation and the company has applied for the CE Mark to commercialize the product in Europe.