Nicole Wicker Appointed CFO of TearScience

TearScience has named Nicole Wicker, formerly vice president of finance, as its new chief financial officer (CFO). Wicker has been with the company since 2008.

“Nicole played a critical role in raising the funding that TearScience needed to commercialize our evaporative dry eye treatment,” said Tim Willis, CEO of TearScience. “Her success and broad financial management experience has been a tremendous asset to us. This promotion is well deserved. With Nicole’s continued leadership, TearScience will be on solid financial ground during this next phase of expansion.”

In May 2010, TearScience raised $44.5 million in series C financing, which according to the company, was the largest medtech venture of that year. The funding came from new investors Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, Investor Growth Capital and General Catalyst Partners and existing financiers De Novo Ventures, Spray Venture Parnters and Quaker Partners Management L.P.

TearScience launched its LipiView Ocular Surface Interferometer and LipiFlow Thermal Pulsation devices in Canada in June 2011. The following month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted 510(k) clearance to Lipiflow, which treats meibomian gland dysfunction, also known as evaporative dry eye.

Wicker served as CFO for several companies before joining TearScience. She recently led the transition of companies including SmartPath LLC and Motricity from the startup stage through acquisition or initial public offering (IPO). Wicker began her career with Ernst & Young in the firm’s entrepreneurial services group, where she worked for 11 years. She served as the lead financial executive in numerous U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, including Highwoods Properties, Divot Golf Corporation, BTI, General Parts LLC, Intellikey Corporation, and Optometric Eye Care Center. Wicker graduated from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill with a master’s degree in Accounting.

“TearScience is redefining how eye care physicians manage evaporative dry eye,” said Wicker. “I’m very pleased to be part of such an advance in the eye care industry that will help millions of dry eye sufferers.”

TearScience’s flagship product, Lipiflow, works by heating and applying gentle pressure to patients’ eyelids to liquefy and evacuate obstructions in meibomian glands during a 12-minute in-office procedure.

TearScience is based in Morrisville, N.C., and is focused solely on medical devices for the treatment for dry eye.