AdvaMed Announces New VP of Government Affairs
Duane Wright has joined theAdvanced Medical TechnologyAssociation (AdvaMed) as vice president of government affairs.
“This is a critically important time for America’s medical technology companies as health reform implementation continues and the industry renegotiates theMedical Device User Fee Act,” said J.C. Scott, senior executive vice president of government affairs. “Duane’s experience and leadership will be instrumental in our various advocacy efforts.”
It is actually the tough times that made the job so appealing to Wright, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and George WashingtonUniversity Law School.
“One of the big reasons I took this job is because this is an industry that creates jobs,” Wright told Medical Product Outsourcing. Citing current policy issues that are threatening such growth, Wright said he is prepared to help AdvaMed ensure that the medtech industry remains on the forefront of innovation and job creation.
Wright joins AdvaMed from The Glover Park Group, a strategic communications firm where he served as vice president of government relations. In this role, he advocated for clients in various sectors of the health care industry, including devices and health insurance. Before that, Wright was vice president of federal affairs at America’s Health Insurance Plans, a Washington, D.C.-based national trade association representing the health insurance industry. He also served in various roles on Capitol Hill, including in the offices of U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and former U.S. Rep. Jim Davis (D-Fla.).
New VP of Sales and Marketing for Accellent
Accellent Inc. named James McGorry executive vice president of sales and marketing.
“Jim brings tremendous operational and commercial experience to our global sales and marketing organization. With more than 25 years of experience in medical devices and pharmaceutical-based businesses, Jim will add significant depth to our senior management team,” said Don Spence, Accellent president and CEO.
McGorry joins Accellent from Genzyme Corporation, where he served as senior vice president, oncology, from 2003 to 2010. Between 1998 and 2003, he held other senior level positions within Genzyme, including senior vice president, general manager, cardiac devices; and senior vice president, general manager, bio-surgical specialties. Before that, McGorry spent more than 10 years with Baxter Healthcare and its predecessor, American Hospital Supply Corporation, where he worked in various sales and commercial slots.
McGorry graduated from the United States Military Academy, West Point, with a bachelor of science degree in engineering and served in the U.S. military from 1979 to 1985. He also received an MBA from Duke University in Durham, N.C.
MRPC Announces New Senior Project Engineer
MRPC, a single-source provider of medical device components and assemblies, has named David Kurth as senior project engineer. Kurth previously served as a manufacturing engineer at MRPC from 1991 to 1993, and is a graduate of the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
“David’s history with MRPC and engineering experience in molded silicone and rubber for the medical industry make him an ideal addition to our team,” said Jeff Randall, vice president of engineering for the Butler, Wisc.-based firm.
ANCA Appoints New Medical Business Dev. Manager
ANCA Inc. has appointed Nick Van Benschoten as medical business development manager. Company executives said Van Benschoten’s experience in the medical industry, including in the design and manufacture of rotary instruments; clinical spine coverage; fixture design; multi-axis programming; manufacturing and marketing of implants; and in attaining a U.S. patent, provides a depth of knowledge that will help the medical and dental device sectors benefit from ANCA technology.
“Nick will help ANCA reach out to and provide precision grinding solutions for the medical instrument industry,” said ANCA President Russell Riddiford. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Van Benschoten will be responsible for the company’s North and South American medical sales.
ANCA is the North American subsidiary of Melbourne, Australia-headquartered ANCA Pty Ltd., which designs and builds high-precision CNC (computer numerical control) grinding machines and software.
Osprey Medical Gets New VP of Clinical & Regulatory Affairs
Dan Mans has joined Osprey Medical Inc. as its vice president of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs.
Mans has more than 20 years of experience in the medical device industry and has held senior executive level positions in both publicly held and private companies, including Minnetonka, Minn.-based American Medical Systems; Minneapolis, Minn.-based Voyageur Medical and Medtronic Inc.; and several start-ups. He is experienced in the clinical and regulatory functions of various products in electrophysiology, cardiac surgery, spinal disease, urology and gynecology. In addition, Mans has testified before U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panels, conducted clinical research and garnered product approvals in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.
“Attracting a person of Dan’s caliber, experience level and reputation is an important accomplishment for Osprey, allowing us to accelerate our clinical trial activity in support of securing regulatory clearance for our contrast-induced nephropathy therapy,” said Mike McCormick, president and CEO.
Osprey Medical is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minn.
Adhesives Research Hires New Medical Business Manager
Adhesives Research Inc. has hiredBenjamin Meadows as its new medical business manager.
Meadows will oversee the Glen Rock, Pa.-based company’s North American sales. Meadows previously served as the mid-Atlantic sales director for United Kingdom-based Smith & Nephew plc’s Wound Management division. He also worked as a sales consultant with Arlington, Va.-headquartered Huthwaite Inc., and as a biologist for Falls Church, Va.-headquartered DynCorp International. Meadows received a bachelor’s degree from Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Ala., and an MBA from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Adhesives Research manufacturescustomized adhesive technologies and specialty coatings to the medical device, diagnostic and advanced wound care markets. The company’s pressure-sensitive adhesives are used in medical diagnostics and devices, wound care and pharmaceuticals/transdermals, as well as in electronics, displays, wireless telecommunications, window fabrication, and the pulp and paper industry.
Foster Corp. Expands Delivery Science Business Unit
Foster Corporation has added three new employees to its delivery science business unit to meet demand for the development and manufacturing of drug/polymer blends used in implant, patch and oral drug delivery systems.
Mike Borek has been named project engineer and will manage cGMP (current good manufacturing process) development and manufacturing projects. He had a similar position at Davol Inc., where he worked on fiber, film and fabric manufacturing processes for polymeric and other biomaterial-based implants used in permanent and bioresorbable soft tissue repair products.
Richard Stoddard has joined the team as its quality assurance leader.He is responsible for ensuring that all products meet customer and regulatory standards. Stoddard previously held manufacturing and quality assurance positions at Pfizer Inc.
Jeffrey Adler was hired as the group’s extrusion technician. Adler previously had served as lead pharmaceutical technical specialist at Pfizer Inc.
“The addition of key veterans from the pharmaceutical industry will enable us to take on even more drug delivery development and manufacturing challenges,” said Tony Listro, Delivery Science Managing Director at Foster.
Tangent Enlists Startup Leader for CEO Spot
Tangent Medical Technologies Inc. has named Jeffrey Williams as its new CEO and chairman.
Williams joins Tangent from Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Life Magnetics Inc., where he was CEO. Before his stint at Life Magnetics, Williams served as CEO of Accuri Cytometers Inc. and CEO of HandyLab Inc., where he orchestrated the firm’s $275 million sale to Becton Dickinson and Company (BD) in 2009. BD also acquired Accuri in February for more than $200 million.
“Tangent shares a lot of similarities with HandyLab and Accuri,” Williams said. “All three companies target multibillion-dollar markets with products that offer advantages over the competition. The one major difference is Tangent will generate nearly 100 percent of its revenues from recurring consumable sales.”
Tangent is a development-stage medical device firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
MEC Promotes One of its Own for VP of Sales
MEC, an electronics manufacturing company based in Milwaukee, Wis., has promoted Rick Cummings to vice president of sales. Cummings previously served as a director of business development. He will be responsible for managing the sales and marketing activities for all three of MEC’s business units: Screaming Circuits, MEC Innovation and MEC EMS.
“Rick has done an excellent job over the last two years as a member of our sales team. His combination of extensive EMS sales expertise combined with a strong OEM technical background now make him the logical choice to take our sales organization to the next level,” said P. Michael Stoehr, president and CEO of MEC Companies.
Prior to joining MEC, Cummings served as a senior business development executive for Benchmark Electronics, Inc. He also has held positions with Merix Corporation and Tektronix Corporation in sales management, quality management and engineering.
MEC designs and manufactures custom circuit board assemblies for medical and other industries. The firm operates more than 135,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Canby, Ore.; Milwaukee, Wis.; and Tecate, Mexico. MEC also offers product development services through its MEC Innovation business and quick-turn prototyping through its Screaming Circuits division.