Abbott Names New President

Restore Medical appoints first CFO; Colder promotes veteran to VP slot; AdvaMed lands Capitol Hill guru; Vertebron appoints new VP

Gonzalez

Abbott Laboratories has announced that Richard A. Gonzalez, president and COO of the company’s medical products group, will assume the role of president and COO for all operations of the corporation. Jeffrey M. Laiden, Abbott’s current president and COO, has announced he will step down to pursue other career interests.

“He [Gonzalez] has created a portfolio of global medical product businesses that is delivering double-digit growth, built a strong medical products pipeline and attracted and developed an impressive leadership team,” said Miles D. White, chairman and CEO of Abbott.

As a 29-year veteran of the Abbott Park, IL-based company, Gonzalez will oversee all operations for Abbott’s  global medical device and pharmaceutical products.

New CEO at CryoCor

Edward F. Brennan, PhD, previously the president and COO of CryoCor, Inc., has been promoted to the position of chief executive officer and appointed to the company’s board of directors. Having joined San Diego, CA-based CryoCor in January 2005, Brennan will be instrumental in leading the company as it transitions from an early stage product development company to a commercial enterprise.

“We are pleased that Ed Brennan has embraced his new leadership role as CEO of CryoCor,” said Kurt Wheeler, chairman of CryoCor’s board of directors. “Ed has been involved with several successful medical device companies, and his proven operational success, regulatory experience and clinical background make him the ideal candidate to lead the company toward its upcoming milestones.”

CryoCor, manufacturer of a disposable catheter system based on its proprietary cryoablation technology, is looking for Brennan to make inroads into the market for catheter-based treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Gregory M. Ayers, MD, founder and former CEO of CryoCor, will continue with the company as an advisor to Brennan and remain on CryoCor’s board of directors.

Garber

Colder Promotes Veteran to VP Slot

Colder Products Company, manufacturer of quick disconnect couplings, has promoted Rick Garber to vice president of marketing.

A six-year veteran of St. Paul, MN-based Colder, Garber recently served as the company’s Smart Technology business unit manager and was responsible for building Colder’s RFID engineering and marketing departments. Along the way, he helped establish the Smart Technology business unit as the key driver in the company’s growth strategy.

“Rick Garber brought Smart Technology from an idea to a reality at Colder,” said Gary Rychley, president of Colder. “He has helped bring RFID to the forefront of the industries we serve.”

In his new role, Garber will oversee Colder’s Smart Technology, industrial, chemical/packaging, medical and bioprocessing business units, and he will also head up the company’s marketing communications department. His responsibilities will include developing strategic marketing plans, fostering client relationships and identifying growth opportunities for Colder worldwide.

Nolan

DDL COO to Chair ASTM Committee

Packaging expert Patrick Nolan, COO of DDL in Eden Prairie, MN, has been elected chairman of the American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM) D-10 on Packaging Committee.

As chairman, Nolan will be responsible for leading the bi-annual, two-day committee meetings composed of various technical sessions.

“I am thrilled to be chairman of the D-10 committee,” said Nolan. “By being actively involved in the development of packaging standardization, I am in a position to offer the best knowledge and quality of service to DDL’s package testing customers.”

DDL offers expert package, product and material testing services including shock testing, vibration testing, tensile testing, leak testing and validation.

The ASTM created the D-10 on Packaging Committee in 1914 to discuss the revision and development of regulated packaging standards and is vested with material definition, shipping systems design criteria and establishing standards on reuse of materials, among others.

Restore Medical Appoints First CFO

Restore Medical, manufacturer of sleep disorder devices, has announced the hiring of its first CFO, Christopher Geyen. The St. Paul, MN-based company hired Geyen, a certified public accountant of 12 years, to help expand its market.

“Chris’ experienced financial leadership with rapid growth medical device companies is an important addition to Restore Medical,” said Bob Paulson, Restore Medical’s president and CEO.

Prior to joining Restore, Geyen was chief financial officer of St. Paul, MN-based Acorn Cardiovascular, Inc. and Minne-apolis, MN-based Urologix, Inc. He graduated cum laude from the University of St. Thomas with a degree in business administration and accounting.

AdvaMed Lands Capitol Hill Guru

AdvaMed has announced the hiring of Madeleine Smith, a Capitol Hill veteran with more than 20 years’ experience in healthcare policy and research, to serve as senior vice president in the organization’s Payment and Health Care Delivery Department.

Since 2002, Smith has been as a member of the professional staff of the US House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, where she was responsible for many issues, such as quality, pay-for-performance initiatives, Medicare benefits, cost containment and healthcare coverage for the uninsured.

Before working for the subcommittee, Smith spent more than 10 years performing research for the Congressional Research Service, an arm of the Library of Congress.

In addition, Smith has substantial experience with state-level healthcare issues though her work with the consulting firm Barents Group LLC, analyzing health reform options for the State of Connecticut, and with the Missouri Department of Mental Health, where she worked as a program evaluation specialist.

“Madeleine is an outstanding addition to our already impressive Payment and Health Care Delivery Department,” said Stephen J. Ubl, AdvaMed president and CEO. “Her expertise on several issues of crucial importance to the medical technology industry will prove invaluable as we work to ensure that the more than 42 million Medicare beneficiaries continue to have access to innovative medical technologies.”

Vertebron Appoints New Vice President

Stratford, CT-based Vertebron, Inc., manufacturer of spinal implants, has announced the appointment of Marc Burel to vice president of domestic sales. Burel recently served as the VP of sales and marketing at SpineVision, and prior to that he held the same position at Osteotech.

Hosam Afifi, CEO of Vertebron, said, “After an extensive search, we are confident that Marc’s dedicated efforts will be able to fulfill our expectations for sales growth in 2006 and the continued expansion of our customer base, taking us to the next stage of sales growth.”

Burel also has held management positions at Sofamor Danek and Stuart Medical, where he assisted with the development of the CD Spinal System.

Polar Appoints New President

Lake Success, NY-based Polar Electro, manufacturer of heart-rate monitors, has announced the appointment of Jeff Padovan as the new president of Polar Americas in a move to further strengthen its market position. In his role, Padovan will be responsible for overseeing all of Polar’s operations in North America, South America and Latin America.

“Jeff brings a great deal of leadership, creativity and strategic thinking to his new position,” said Jean-Jacques Gauthey, in Polar’s Finland headquarters. “His years of relevant experience in the sporting goods market, along with managing sales, marketing, and service teams, will play a big role in helping to sustain Polar’s leadership in the industry while taking the company to a whole new level of success.”

Padovan formerly served as the vice president of sales, customer marketing and customer service for Thule, a manufacturer of sport racks and car-carrying solutions. Padovan also has held management positions in Kraft Foods, Cadbury Beverages and Computer Science Corporation.

Celmer

Multisorb Appoints Celmer as CEO

Multisorb Technologies International, manufacturer of sorbent, desiccant and oxygen absorbing technologies, has announced the appointment of Mark E. Celmer to chief executive officer. Celmer will assume the role in addition to his position as president. Multisorb’s founder, John S. Cullen will remain chairman.

Under Celmer’s leadership, Multisorb has significantly expanded opera-tions globally, most notably in overseas markets such as Europe, India, China, Southeast Asia and South America. This expansion has come on the heels of significant growth in its US operations.

With production and warehouse facilities strategically located worldwide, Celmer will be responsible for further expansion into global markets.

Multisorb is an integrated set of corporate entities including Multisorb Technologies Inc (Buffalo, USA), Multisorb Technologies Ltd (Warrington, England), Multisorb Tech-nologies Asia, Active-Pak Automation and Eagle Chemical Company.