EBR Systems Gains Three New Board Members

EBR Systems Inc. has welcomed three new board members. 

Bronwyn Evans, Ph.D., Dr. David Steinhaus, and Karen Drexler have joined the board as independent non-executive directors. The board appointments follow the retirement of Dave Stassen and Dr. Leighton Read. Dr Evans. Steinhaus and Drexler join Allan Will, John McCutcheon, Dr. Christopher Nave, and Trevor Moody on the EBR Systems Board.

“I am very excited to welcome Dr. Evans, Dr. Steinhaus and Ms. Drexler to our Board of Directors, who together bring a wealth of clinical and commercial experience across the healthcare industry, which will be of significant value to EBR Systems,” said EBR Systems Chair Allan Will. “This appointment is a part of our ongoing process to build an exceptional and capable board with the relevant skills to guide the company through the next growth phase.”
 
Evans is an experienced leader and CEO with a broad technical background across multiple industry sectors. She is currently CEO of Engineers Australia, the chair of Building 4.0 CRC and a director at GME Pty Ltd. She has an extensive background in the healthcare industry, having previously served as the CEO of Standards Australia, senior vice president of Quality, Clinical & Regulatory at Cochlear Limited, and held multiple other executive roles. She was named as one of Australia’s Top 100 Influential Women in 2016 and earned a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Wollongong.
 
Steinhaus was formerly vice president and general manager of the Heart Failure Business for the Cardiac Rhythm and Heart Failure Division at Medtronic plc. Steinhaus has extensive clinical and business experience in cardiac rhythm management, including performing numerous clinical studies in implantable cardiac devices and leads. He is currently executive board chairman at Enopace Biomedical Ltd., a company that produces therapeutic neuromodulation devices for heart failure treatment, and serves as a consultant and board member for multiple established and early-stage medical device companies.

Steinhaus is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and earned his medical doctorate from Harvard Medical School as part of the Harvard-M.I.T. program in Health Sciences and Technology, with Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) honors.
 
Drexler brings an array of operational and entrepreneurial experience to EBR System’s board. She is currently a director at ResMed Inc., where she serves on the compensation committee and on the nominating and governance committee and a director at Outset Medical Inc., where she chairs the compensation committee and serves on the nomination and governance committee. Drexler also serves on the board of three private companies: Bone Health Technologies Inc., VIDA Diagnostics Inc., and Tivic Health Systems Inc., which are all in the medical technology sector. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University and earned an MBA with honors from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
 
“The pivotal SOLVE-CRT trial currently underway is to be included in our application for regulatory approval in the U.S. and we aim to utilize the joint capabilities of the board and management to ensure its effective execution,” Will said. “I would also like to thank Dave Stassen and Leighton Read for their valuable contributions to EBR Systems over the years. Their commitment to the strategic development of EBR Systems and our proprietary WiSE technology is highly appreciated.”

EBR Systems’ WiSE is the world’s only wireless, endocardial (inside the heart) pacing system in clinical use for stimulating the heart’s left ventricle. This has long been a goal of cardiac pacing companies since internal stimulation of the left ventricle is thought to be a potentially superior, more anatomically correct pacing location. WiSE Technology enables cardiac pacing of the left ventricle with a novel cardiac implant that is roughly the size of a large grain of rice. The need for a pacing wire on the outside of the heart’s left ventricle—and the attendant problems—are potentially eliminated. WiSE is an investigational device and is not currently available for sale in the United States. 

Silicon Valley-based EBR Systems developed the patented proprietary Wireless Stimulation Endocardially (WiSE) technology to eliminate the need for cardiac pacing leads, historically the major source of complications and reliability issues in cardiac rhythm disease management. The initial product is designed to eliminate the need for coronary sinus leads to stimulate the left ventricle in heart failure patients requiring CRT. Future products potentially address wireless endocardial stimulation for bradycardia and other non-cardiac indications. EBR Systems is backed by private equity investors including M.H. Carnegie & Co., Brandon Capital Partners, Split Rock Partners, Ascension Ventures, and Emergent Medical Partners.