Jon J. Snyder Named CEO of Realeve

Realeve, formerly known as Unity HA, has named Jon J. Snyder as CEO. Snyder holds nearly 30 years of global management experience in biomedical and healthcare sales, marketing, and operations with significant experience in bringing new products into the marketplace. 

Snyder is the founding CEO and an executive advisor of Neuros Medical, a Cleveland, Ohio-based medical device company, which he led through the past several years of development, raising $35 million in venture capital and strategic partner investment.

Unity HA Founder Dr. Peter Bonutti said, “We are extremely pleased to add a proven, medical device executive with strong neuromodulation and chronic pain therapy development experience in Jon Snyder to lead Realeve going forward.”

Unity HA’s name change occurred to support the commercialization process for the company’s Pulsante SPG Microstimulator System for cluster headache.
 
Snyder’s background covers business development, product development, market management, sales management, venture capital investment, and fundraising at start-up and Fortune 500 companies including Cyberonics, Cardinal Health, Imalux, and STERIS.
 
“It is an honor to join the Realeve team and move this impactful therapy closer to the market,” Snyder said. “The Unity HA team has done an outstanding job with the Pulsante SPG Microstimulator System for the treatment of acute headache pain associated with chronic cluster headaches. We look forward to advancing this therapy to obtain the regulatory approvals to launch the therapy.”
 
The Pulsante SPG Microstimulator has treated over 700 patients in the United States and Europe to date via several studies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Device designation to the Pulsante SPG Microstimulator System for the treatment of acute headache pain associated with chronic cluster headaches.
 
The Pulsante Microstimulator System, a development stage therapy potentially offers on-demand stimulation of the sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG), which plays a critical role in headaches with autonomic features, such as cluster headache. The Pulsante SPG Microstimulator is activated using an external remote controller, allowing patients to deliver as-needed stimulation to relieve the attack. The Pulsante SPG Microstimulator is a platform technology with multiple potential future applications in stroke, migraine, orthopedic sensing, trigeminal neuralgia, and brain-computer interfaces.
 
Cluster headache is a highly disabling chronic neurological condition characterized by intense stabbing pain in the area of one eye, often accompanied by swelling, tears and nasal congestion. The pain inflicted by the condition is recognized as among the most severe known to humankind. Sufferers can have headache attacks multiple times per day, each lasting 15 minutes to three hours. Approximately one in 1,000 people suffers from cluster headaches.
 
There is no cure for the condition. Current treatments to relieve symptoms include preventive and acute abortive drugs, including injectable medications and inhaled oxygen. As some patients are not candidates for these medications and others may not experience any benefit from them, there is a considerable need for new treatment options.
 
Realeve is a medical device company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of autonomic disorders, particularly severe headache. The company acquired the intellectual property of Autonomic Technologies Inc. (ATI) and continues to advance cost effective technologies for the prevention and treatment of cluster headaches as well as future indications for sphenopalatine ganglion neuromodulation.
 
The Pulsante SPG Microstimulator is an investigational device and is limited by U.S. law to investigational use.