Monteris Appoints Board Chairman

Plymouth, Minn.-based Monteris Medical Inc. has appointed Greg Barrett as its new chairman of the board of directors, effective Jan. 1. Barrett joined Monteris’ Board in September this year, and replaces Kevin McGarry, who will stay on as a director.

Barrett brings more than 35 years of medical device industry experience to Monteris, which produces MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) guided laser-based cancer treatments. He was most recently the president and CEO of Bârrx Medical, a gastrointestinal device company which was acquired earlier this year by Covidien plc. He has held senior management positions with Boston Scientific Corp., CR Bard Inc., Baxter Corp., Orthofix International N.V., and ACMI/Circon. He is currently on the board of directors for Barosense Inc. and Cutera Inc.

“I can say with conviction that few executives I have worked with combine his strategic vision and demonstrated ability to build market and investor value,” said John Schellhorn, president and CEO of Monteris “His experience will be invaluable to our board as Monteris establishes the Neuroblate system as a front-line treatment option for patients with brain tumors and related lesions.”

Barrett said he was “honored” to take on the role of chairman, and thanked his predecessor McGarry for his “insights and guidance” during his time in the position. “I share [Schellhorn’s] excitement about the NeuroBlate system technology and its potential to change the way many brain tumors are treated,” he added.

“This experience will be very important to our board as we continue to support management’s ongoing NeuroBlate system commercialization efforts,” rejoined McGarry.

Monteris’ NeuroBlate system, a neurosurgical ablation device providing controlled thermal therapy for brain tumors, is designed for use with the company’s AutoLITT (laser interstitial thermal therapy) procedure. Together they are designed to heat and destroy brain tumors with a laser. The AutoLITT/NeuroBlate procedure was first performed at the Cleveland Clinic’s Rose Ella Burkhardt Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center in 2009.