Theragenics Corporation Appoints VP of Sales

Theragenics Corporation has appointed Mark Kesti as vice president of Sales for its Galt Medical and NeedleTech Products companies. In this role, Kesti will lead all sales activities for Galt and NeedleTech including contract manufacturing, OEM and dealer sales for both firms.

Kesti has more than 20 years of executive sales experience within the medical device industry. Most recently, he served as vice president of Sales for Angiotech Pharmaceuticals/Surgical Specialties Corporation. He also served as a vice president of Sales and Marketing for GE Healthcare.

“Mark’s exceptional sales expertise culminates in a strong addition to our executive team,” said Joseph Plante, President of Galt Medical and NeedleTech Products. “We are pleased to bring on board a strategic business innovator to lead our sales effort. We expect that Mark’s experience in working with customers and end users to identify market needs and product appeal will accelerate the growth of our new and existing product lines.”

“The addition of Mark Kesti as vice president of Sales for Galt and NeedleTech reflects our strategy of expanding the breadth of product offerings and accelerating revenue growth in these businesses,” noted Frank Tarallo, CEO of Theragenics. “Mark has a proven track record of leading impressive sales growth both domestically and internationally in the medical device space. We welcome Mark as he joins our dynamic organization.”

Buford, Ga.-based Theragenics Corporation operates two business segments: its surgical products business and its brachytherapy seed business. The surgical products business manufactures and distributes wound closure, vascular access, and specialty needle products. Wound closure products include sutures, needles and other surgical products. Vascular access includes introducers, guidewires and related products. Specialty needles include coaxial, biopsy, spinal and disposable veress needles, access trocars, radiofrequency devices, implanters, introducer products, and other needle-based products. The surgical products segment serves a number of markets and applications, including, among other areas, interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, vascular surgery, orthopedics, plastic surgery, dental surgery, urology, veterinary medicine, pain management, endoscopy, and spinal surgery.

Theragenics’ brachytherapy business manufactures, custom loads, markets and distributes “seeds” used primarily in the minimally invasive treatment of localized prostate cancer. The company’s brachytherapy product line includes its palladium-103 TheraSeed device and its iodine-125 AgX100 device.