Bovie Medical Corporation, developer of J-Plasma, a patented new surgical product, has appointed Peter Donato, 44, as executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO), effective immediately.
Donato has more than 22 years of financial management and accounting experience in roles of increasing responsibility. For the past 10 years, he has been focused on healthcare companies, most recently serving as corporate controller for Cyberonics, Inc. Prior to that, Donato served as a CFO for Catasys Inc., and before that, as CFO for IRIS International.
Donato is a graduate of Ohio State University, where he obtained a bachelor of science/bachelor of arts degree in accounting in 1992 and earned an M.B.A. from the University of Akron in 1999. He received his certified public accountant license in 1995.
"I am very pleased that Peter Donato has accepted the role of executive vice president and chief financial officer," said Robert L. Gershon, CEO. "His experience as a CFO with publicly-held medical device companies, combined with his depth of financial knowledge and strategic acumen, makes him an ideal candidate to help the company achieve its corporate and financial goals."
In addition to announcing Donato's appointment as CFO, Bovie Medical executives disclosed that Gary Pickett has left the company to pursue other opportunities.
"Gary has made an invaluable contribution to Bovie Medical, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors," Gershon said.
Donato's employment agreement with the company entitles him to purchase an aggregate of 125,000 shares of Bovie common stock, exercisable at the closing price on the effective date of his employment agreement.
Based in Clearwater, Fla., Bovie Medical Corporation manufactures and supplies medical devices. Its J-Plasma surgical product uses a gas ionization process that produces a stable, focused beam of ionized gas that provides surgeons with greater precision, minimal invasiveness and an absence of conductive currents through the patient during surgery. Bovie Medical also manufactures a range of electrosurgical products and technologies, marketed through both private labels and the company's own brands (Bovie, Aaron, IDS and ICON) to distributors worldwide.