Endospan Appoints CEO

Endospan, a pioneer in off-the-shelf endovascular repair of aortic arch disease including aneurysms and dissections, has appointed Kevin J. Mayberry as CEO, effective immediately. He replaces Alon Shalev, who will continue as a director of Endospan.
 
Previously, Mayberry served in various R&D and executive positions at Endologix since Dec. 2004. In his most recent role, he was regional sales director for the Asia-Pacific operations of Endologix based in Singapore.
 
“This is a very exciting time to be joining Endospan,” Mayberry said. “We have submitted for European approval of our NEXUS Stent Graft System, the first off-the-shelf endovascular approach to treating aortic arch disease including aneurysms and dissections. While minimally invasive techniques are standard of care for treating descending aortic disease and heart disease, unfortunately the bridge between the two in the difficult-to-treat aortic arch anatomy is vastly underserved and remains a very invasive, high-mortality open surgery. More than 120,000 patients suffer thoracic aortic arch disease every year in the U.S. and Europe, but only about 25 percent are diagnosed or treated. This global market opportunity already is greater than $1.3 billion in a segment with no off-the-shelf endovascular options. Consequently, we fully expect NEXUS will be embraced by cardiologists as well as cardiac and vascular surgeons.”
 
Privately held Endospan, headquartered in Herzlia (Tel Aviv), Israel, develops technologies for the endovascular repair of aortic arch disease including aneurysms and dissections. Endospan has initiated the CE-marking regulatory process to market in Europe the NEXUS Stent Graft System, the first endovascular off-the-shelf system to treat aortic arch disease: a greatly underserved group of patients diagnosed with a dilative lesion in, or near, the aortic arch. While minimally invasive endovascular repair has been the standard of care for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), aortic arch disease patients with aneurysms or dissections have not been as fortunate and have had little choice but to undergo open-chest surgery with its invasiveness and risks, lengthy hospitalization periods, and prolonged recuperation.
 
The NEXUS Stent Graft System is approved for investigational use, and the CE mark registration process is underway in Europe.