Wright Medical’s CEO Joins Avedro’s Board of Directors

Robert J. Palmisano, president and CEO of Arlington, Tenn.-based Wright Medical Group Inc. is joining the board of directors of Avedro Inc., an ophthalmic medical device and pharmaceutical company announces today that

Palmisano has significant experience leading publicly traded medical device companies, most recently serving as president and CEO of ev3, Inc., a global endovascular device company, from April 2008 to July 2010 when it was acquired by Covidien plc. Prior to ev3, he was an instrumental leader in the ophthalmic medical device industry serving as president and CEO of IntraLase Corp. from 2003 to 2007, when it was acquired by Advanced Medical Optics (now Abbott Medical Optics following the company’s acquisition by Abbott Labs) and serving as president and CEO of Summit Technology Inc. from 1997 to 2000 when it was acquired by eye-care giant Alcon Inc. Earlier in his career, he served in various executive positions at Bausch & Lomb Inc.

During the past five years, Palmisano has served on the boards of ev3, Inc., Osteotech Inc., Abbott Medical Options Inc., and Bausch & Lomb. Palmisano has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Providence College and currently serves on its board of trustees.

“I have been excited about the potential of cross-linking technology since my days with IntraLase. I am thrilled to join David Muller and the Avedro team to do whatever I can to help bring this technology to the market,” Palmisano said.

David Muller, Ph,D,, CEO of Waltham, Mass.-based Avedro said: “After my departure from Summit Technology, Bob did an outstanding job in providing strategic guidance to the company, thus positioning it for growth and ultimately to be acquired. I am now looking forward to working with him on building the future of Avedro and look forward to a very successful outcome.”

Avedro is privately held. The company is developing technology for corneal cross-linking and refractive correction. Avedro’s products include capital equipment and related single-dose pharmaceuticals.

Avedro distributes its products in 62 countries through 33 ophthalmic distributors with 115 sales and service representatives. Avedro products that have received CE mark include: the KXL system for performing Lasik Xtra and accelerated cross-linking, the KXL II system for performing PiXL, and the Avedro family of proprietary single-dose pharmaceutical formulations.

Avedro’s KXL system and single-dose pharmaceutical products are currently being used in three Phase III U.S. clinical trials involving more than 100 U.S. clinical sites. The company’s products are not for sale in the United States.