Spectranetics Elects New Board Chair

The Spectranetics Corporation has elected B. Kristine Johnson as the new chairperson of the Board of Directors. Johnson succeeds R. John Fletcher, who has served as board chair since December 2010 and will continue to serve on the board.
 
“I am delighted to be elected as Chairperson. Spectranetics has many opportunities ahead, and our Board is fully engaged. I am looking forward to leading us through our next phase of growth,” said  Johnson. “On behalf of the Board, I would also like to thank our outgoing chair, John Fletcher, for his stewardship over the last seven years. He has led the company through significant market capitalization growth, portfolio diversification, and attracted new leadership. His contributions have been simply invaluable. We are fortunate that John will continue to serve on the board.”
 
Johnson joined the Spectranetics Board in 2012. She is currently the president of Affinity Capital Management, a venture capital firm that invests in private, U.S.-based healthcare companies. Prior to Affinity, she was senior vice president and chief administrative officer of Medtronic plc. During her 17 years at Medtronic, she also served as president and general manager of its vascular business and president and general manager of its tachyarrhythmia management business.
 
Johnson currently serves on the board of directors for AtriCure Inc., a publicly traded medical device company, and on the board of directors for Piper Jaffray Companies, a middle market investment bank and asset management firm, where she has been the lead director since 2012. She also serves on the board of directors and is chair of the University of Minnesota Foundation Investment Advisors, as well as the boards of several private entities.
 
It is the intention of the Board to rotate the role of chairperson from time to time, as deemed appropriate, with the expectation that the chairperson typically will serve a four- to six-year term.
 
The Spectranetics Corporation develops, manufactures, markets and distributes medical devices used in minimally invasive procedures within the cardiovascular system. The company’s products are available in over 65 countries and are used to treat arterial blockages in the heart and legs and in the removal of pacemaker and defibrillator leads.
 
The company’s Vascular Intervention (VI) products include a range of laser catheters for ablation of blockages in arteries above and below the knee, the AngioSculpt scoring balloon used in both peripheral and coronary procedures, and the Stellarex drug-coated balloon peripheral angioplasty platform, which received European CE mark approval in December 2014. The company also markets support catheters to facilitate crossing of peripheral and coronary arterial blockages, and retrograde access and guidewire retrieval devices used in the treatment of peripheral arterial blockages, including chronic total occlusions. The Colorado Springs, Colo.-based company markets aspiration and cardiac laser catheters to treat blockages in the heart.
 
The Lead Management product line includes excimer laser sheaths, dilator sheaths, mechanical sheaths and accessories for the removal of pacemaker and defibrillator cardiac leads, including the Bridge Occlusion Balloon.