Financial Executive Joins Profound Medical’s Board

Profound Medical Corp., the only company to provide customizable, incision-free therapies which combine real-time Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), thermal ultrasound and closed-loop temperature feedback control for the radiation-free ablation of diseased tissue, has appointed Steve Forte to its Board of Directors. The appointment of Forte, who will serve on the Board’s Audit Committee, increases the size of the board to seven members.
 
Forte is a senior finance leader with broad experience managing complex, large-scale finance environments. Most recently, he served as chief financial officer (CFO) at Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc., which was acquired by Ispen S.A. for approximately $1.3 billion in April 2019. Before joining Clementia, Forte was CFO of Thinking Capital Financial Corporation, a financial technology firm, which he helped lead through rapid growth and ultimately to a successful sale of the company to Purpose Investments. Prior to that, Forte’s experience includes nearly a decade at Aptalis Pharma Inc., where he was responsible for the overall corporate controllership function of a multinational pharmaceutical company with approximately $700 million in annual revenue, six operating companies, five manufacturing sites and 40 subsidiaries. Forte led Aptalis’ preparations for a U.S. IPO prior to the successful sale of the company to Forest Labs for $2.9 billion.

Forte earned his bachelor of commerce degree in accountancy from Concordia University and is a CPA/CMA.
 
“On behalf of everyone at Profound, I am very pleased to welcome Steve to our team,” commented Brian Ellacott, independent lead director of the company’s board. “Steve is not only an experienced financial executive in the life science industry, but also has a breadth of relevant NASDAQ listing and M&A experience that could prove to be invaluable as Profound executes the next stages of its growth strategy. I am confident that his expertise and guidance will be of significant benefit to the company and its shareholders.”
 
Profound develops and markets customizable, incision-free therapies for the ablation of diseased tissue. Profound is commercializing TULSA-PRO, a technology that combines real-time MRI, robotically-driven transurethral ultrasound and closed-loop temperature feedback control. TULSA-PRO is designed to provide customizable and predictable radiation-free ablation of a surgeon-defined prostate volume while actively protecting the urethra and rectum to help preserve the patient’s natural functional abilities.
 
TULSA-PRO is CE marked and commercially launched in key European and other CE mark jurisdictions. TULSA-PRO is demonstrating to be a flexible technology in customizable prostate ablation, including intermediate stage cancer, localized radio-recurrent cancer, retention and hematuria palliation in locally advanced prostate cancer, and the transition zone in large volume benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In April, Profound announced positive topline results from a multicenter, prospective clinical trial, TACT, which is expected to support its recent application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for 510(k) clearance to market TULSA-PRO in the United States. 
 
Profound is also commercializing Sonalleve, a therapeutic platform that is CE-marked for the treatment of uterine fibroids and palliative pain treatment of bone metastases. Sonalleve has also been approved by the China Food and Drug Administration for the non-invasive treatment of uterine fibroids. The company is in the early stages of exploring additional potential treatment markets for Sonalleve, where the technology has been shown to have clinical application, such as non-invasive ablation of abdominal cancers and hyperthermia for cancer therapy.