Misonix Appoints President and CEO

Misonix, Inc. a provider of ultrasonic surgical tools, announced today the appointment of Stavros G. Vizirgianakis as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. Mr. Vizirgianakis has served as interim Chief Executive Officer since September 2, 2016, and has served as a member of the Misonix Board of Directors since May 2013. Separately, the Company announced the resignation of T. Guy Minetti from the Board of Directors after leading the Board process to recruit Mr. Vizirgianakis to accept the CEO role.
 
“Since being appointed interim CEO, Stavros has quickly engaged in the business with an intense focus on driving Misonix’s recurring revenue business model,” said Mr. Minetti. “As the Board considered the evolving needs of the Company, we determined that this focus as well as Stavros’ broad international healthcare experience made him the right person to lead Misonix. After more than a dozen years of service to the Company, I am confident that the leadership is in place to take Misonix to new heights and I wish the company well.”
 
Mr. Vizirgianakis has a distinguished career in the medical devices field having worked for United States Surgical Corporation as director of sales for sub-Saharan Africa and later Tyco Healthcare in the capacity of General Manager South Africa. Mr. Vizirgianakis was Managing Director of Ascendis Medical from January 2014 to July 2016. In 2006, Mr. Vizirgianakis co-founded Surgical Innovations, which has become one of the largest privately owned medical device distributors in the African region, and now part of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed entity Ascendis Health. In that capacity, Mr. Vizirgianakis acted as an independent distributor of the Misonix line of products.Mr. Vizirgianakis also served on the board of Tenaxis Medical and is a strategic investor and advisor to numerous medical device startups and established companies in this field. Mr. Vizirgianakis has a degree in commerce from the University of South Africa.
 
“With the support of the Board, and our talented team of employees, we are confident that Stavros will apply his skill set and experience to driving growth and building shareholder value for Misonix,” said Thomas Patton, lead Director of the Company. “And we are grateful for Mr. Minetti’s long term of service to the Company; we will miss his counsel and we wish him well.”
 
Mr. Vizirgianakis commented, “I look forward with great enthusiasm to expanding our markets both within the United States and internationally. While our ultrasonic technologies and tools are generally associated with delicate spine surgery and the debridement of diabetic and burn wounds, I firmly believe there are other surgical procedures that can benefit from the mitigation of soft tissue collateral damage, minimizing blood loss, and the generation of better patient outcomes. We have leading-edge technology and products, highly talented people, and the dedication to become leaders in the markets in which we compete. I am excited with the opportunities ahead.”
 
On October 25, 2016, Misonix announced that Mr. Vizirgianakis invested $4 million through the purchase from the Company of 761,469 shares of Misonix common stock in a private placement at a price of $5.253 per share. Upon closing of the acquisition of these shares, Mr. Vizirgianakis became the Company’s largest shareholder.