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Osteotech expands its senior management team.

Osteotech Inc., an Eatontown, N.J.-based manufacturer of biologic products for regenerative healing, has appointed two experienced industry leaders to new senior management positions.

Michael P. McCarthy has joined the company as senior vice president of sales, a position that requires him to implement and manage the company’s sales model. He most recently served as chief business development officer for Pipeline Bio-medical Holdings LLC, a medical products and technology development company based in Parsippany, N.J.

“We believe that Michael’s successful track record of managing sales teams and distributor networks, as well as his experience in bringing to market novel biologics and medical technology, will prove valuable as we further execute our sales strategy,” said Sam Owusu-Akyaw, Osteotech president and COO. Osteotech has a variety of new products in develop-ment, including a MagniFuse Bone Graft and PlexurBiocomposites.

Robert C. Cohen, the new senior vice president of tissue engineering, will spearhead the company’s efforts to turn Osteotech’s investments in technology-based therapies into marketable products. In addition, he will manage direct relationships with surgeon customers like his new colleague, Cohen comes to Osteotech from Pipeline Biomedical, where he served as chief technology officer and oversaw technical new product due diligence, research and development, regulatory, clinical affairs and quality assurance.

“Robert’s 25 years of experience bringing innovative new products to market in the orthopedic device and related orthopedic biologics industries will be instrumental as we continue to develop and invest in new procedure-driven products,” Owusu-Akyaw said.

Prior to his role at Pipeline Biomedical, McCarthy served as president and CEO of Endius Inc., a minimally invasive surgical spine device company based in Plainville, Mass. He also served as global vice president of sales and marketing for Implex Corp., a reconstructive, spinal, trauma and sports medicine developer purchased five years ago by Zimmer Holdings Inc. Before he joined Implex, McCarthy worked as a principal for Clearwater, Fla.-based Oxford Medical Inc., an independent sales distribution organization for the Johnson & Johnson orthopedic product portfolio.

Cohen has spent the past 25 years in the medical technology industry with a focus on product development for orthopedic devices and related biologics. Prior to his role at Pipeline Biomedical, Cohen served as president of Zimmer Spine Inc., where he was responsible for product develop-ment, marketing and sales. He also served as general manager/vice president of research and development at Zimmer Trabecular Metal Technology Inc., an Allendale, N.J.-based company focused on orthopedic reconstructive prosthetic and spinal implant systems, bone replacements and musculoskeletal research.

Synergetics USA Inc. Appoints Hable as President, CEO

Synergetics USA Inc., a medical device company that designs, manufactures, and markets microsurgical instruments and other devices, has appointed David M. Hable as president and chief executive officer. He also will serve on the board of directors.

Hable is a veteran of the medical device industry with more than 28 years of experience. As CEO, he will be responsible for the overall management of the company’s operations.

“His impressive record of executive level leadership at several medical device and healthcare companies coupled with his sales and marketing expertise, makes him the right executive to assume leader-ship of our company,” said Robert Dick, chairman of Synergetics’ board.

Prior to joining Synergetics, Hable served as president and CEO of Afferent Corp., a venture capital-backed medical device company in Providence, R.I., that focuses on neuro-stimulation therapies. Previously, he was chairman of the board of ONI Medical Systems Inc., a Wilmington, Mass.-based developer and marketer of magnetic resonance imaging equipment for applications in non-hospital settings. Hable also spent more than 20 years with Codman & Shurtleff Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, which develops and markets a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic products for the treatment of central nervous system disorders.

Endoscopic Technologies Hires CEO, CFO/COO

Endoscopic Technologies Inc. (ESTECH), a San Ramon, Calif.-based provider of cardiac surgery devices, has hired John Pavlidis as president and chief executive officer. Terry Kinninger has been named chief financial officer/chief operating officer.

Pavlidis previously was president and CEO of R2 Technology Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based developer of computer-aided detection technology for mammography and lung CT scanning that was acquired three years ago by Hologic Inc. Prior to that, Pavlidis served for five years as president of the worldwide ultrasound business at Siemens Medical Solutions USA, where he led restructuring and growth, including the acquisition of Acuson Corporation.

Kinninger has more than 25 years of executive experience managing emerging venture capital-backed medical device and technology companies.

He was most recently CFO and executive vice president of business development for R2 Technology and COO and CFO of Bridge Medical, a company based in St. Paul, Minn., that makes portable grab bars.

“We are particularly pleased with the appointments of John Pavlidis, with his successful track record as a CEO, and Terry Kinninger, with his broad and extensive financial and operations back-ground. We are confident that with John’s leadership, along with this new financing, ESTECH is poised to become a global leader in the cardiac surgery industry, particularly within the surgical ablation segment,” said Scott Halsted, managing director of Saints Capital Everest. The venture capital firm recently acquired Boston Scientific Corporation’s investments in 54 comp-anies, including ESTECH.

CUREXO Technology Corp.Names President, CEO

CUREXO Technology Corp, which is focused on marketing its ROBODOC Surgical System, announced the addition of Brent D. Mittelstadt as president and chief executive officer.

Mittelstadt began research in surgical robotics in 1986 as a visiting research scientist at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Cen-ter in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., and was respon-sible for much of the early development of CT guided robotic systems for joint replacement surgery. In 1990, Mittelstadt co-founded Sacramento, Calif.-based Integrated Surgical Systems to develop a surgical robot system to assist with hip and knee replacement surgery.

After leaving ISS in June 2002, Mittelstadt took a position at Consensus Orthopedics, where he served as mark-eting director.

While at Consensus Orthopedics, Mittelstadt was involved in the develop-ment of new implants and line extensions as well as redesigning the total knee instrumentation system to address changes in the joint replacement market.

Mittelstadt holds eight patents and has published extensively in the field of computer assisted orthopedic surgery.

“The unique combination of his ROBODOC knowledge and our recent FDA clearance provides Mr. Mittelstadt an immense opportunity to lead the comp-any into the next phase of commercializing our products into the U.S. market,” said Taehoon Kim, chairman of CUREXO.

Syneron Medical Ltd. Taps Scafuri as CEO

A company restructuring has prompted the board of directors of Syneron Medical Ltd. to nominate Lou Scafuri as CEO.

Scafuri brings to Syneron a wealth of management experience in the medical technology market.
Scafuriserved as chief operating officer and president of GE Marquette Medical Systems in Milwaukee, Wis., where he led a corporate-wide strategic planning and restructuring effort to improve global operational efficiencies.

During his 16 years at Marquette, Scafuri played a key role in the acquisition of the company by GE Medical Systems. He also was responsible for a business unit at Marquette that was widely recognized for innovative product design and new product development.

In April 1999, Scafuri was tapped by ESC Medical to become COO and oversee the company’s worldwide sales, R&D, and general operations.Scafuri also led the 2001 acquisition and integration of Coherent by ESC.

“With his vast experience both in senior management positions and in the aesthetic sector, the board is confident that Lou is the right person to guide Syneron, taking advantage of our technology, market position and strong balance sheet. We plan to use these demanding times to improve Syneron’s business model and capitalize on the unique business opportunities which exist in today’s markets,” said Dr. Shimon Eckhouse,chairman of Syneron Medical. Headquartered in Israel, Syneron develops, markets and sells combined-energy medical aesthetic devices.