Avedro Names Chief Business Officer

Avedro Inc., an ophthalmic pharmaceutical and medical device company and the world leader in corneal remodeling, announced that James F. Schuermann has joined the company as chief business officer (CBO). Schuermann will lead the global government affairs, health economics and reimbursement, communications, sales, field service, marketing and business development functions and will report to Avedro CEO Reza Zadno.
 
“Jim joins us at an opportune time as we continue to grow our business within the U.S. and abroad and make progress with our U.S. reimbursement initiatives,” said Zadno, Ph.D. “We are excited that he has decided to join Avedro in this executive role and look forward to leveraging his proven expertise of bringing healthcare products to market globally that improve patients’ lives. He will help us to drive growth and reach key business goals.”
 
In his new role, Schuermann will oversee the expanded commercialization of Avedro’s cross-linking drugs and devices, including the expansion of sales territories and reimbursement support in the United States and continued expansion in key international markets in Europe and Asia. He brings more than 20 years of global medical device experience and joins Avedro from Medtronic plc, where he served as vice president and general manager of Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS), a $300 million business unit comprised of legacy HeartWare and related ventricular assist device (VAD) systems.
 
Prior to Medtronic, Schuermann served as senior vice president of sales and marketing at HeartWare Inc., where he grew revenue from initial commercial launch to $277 million via global expansion into 42 countries. HeartWare was acquired by Medtronic for $1.1 billion in 2016. Schuermann also spent nearly a decade at Boston Scientific Corp., where he held several sales and marketing leadership roles, eventually reaching global director of Marketing of the company’s $235 million Endourology franchise. He is a member of Lumicell Inc.’s Board of Directors, an industry leader in the field of image-guided cancer surgery.

Schuermann has a bachelor of science degree in marketing from Indiana University and an M.B.A. in finance and general management from Golden Gate University.
 
“I am thrilled to be joining Avedro at a time of commercial and clinical progress,” said Schuermann. “Avedro has a strong leadership team and an exciting pipeline. I look forward to working with them to drive growth and advance programs that create value for patients and physicians alike.”
 
Avedro is a privately held pharmaceutical and medical device company and the world leader in corneal remodeling. Avedro’s patented cross-linking technology, consisting of drug formulations and medical devices, are approved for sale in numerous countries around the globe. In the United States the company sells Photrexa Viscous (riboflavin 5’-phosphate in 20 percent dextran ophthalmic solution) and Photrexa (riboflavin 5’-phosphate ophthalmic solution) which were U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved in 2016 for use in epithelium-off corneal cross-linking. Avedro continues to develop proprietary corneal cross-linking products for the treatment of keratoconus, a sight-threatening disease, and for refractive correction.