Transcend Medical, Inc. Announces New President and CEO and Appointment of Chairman of the Board
"Brian is a superb choice to lead the company," said Eugene de Juan, Jr., M.D., the founder of ForSight Labs, the ophthalmology-focused incubator that spun out Transcend Medical in 2006. "His device industry experience and track record of success make him uniquely qualified for the position and he is already making an impact on the business as the company continues its tremendous progress in developing a novel stent-based system to address the needs of patients with glaucoma."
Mr. Walsh has more than twenty years of experience in the medical industry and has worked with high-growth companies throughout his career offering significant advancements to physicians and patients. Prior to joining Transcend Medical, Brian was Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Xtent, a publicly-traded company developing next-generation drug-eluting stent systems. Previously, he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Ventrica, a developer of automated magnetic devices for cardiac surgery, which was acquired by Medtronic. Additionally, he has served as Director of Sales for the Eastern United States and Europe for Artemis Medical, Inc., as a sales, marketing and research and development consultant at the Cardiovations Division of Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson company, and held various positions at Heartport prior to its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson. He holds a B.S. in Marketing from St. Joseph's University.
Former President and Chief Executive Officer Mitchell B. Campbell departed the company to relocate for personal reasons.
The company also announced that Reza Zadno was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors.
"Reza is an experienced entrepreneur and technology innovator," said Dr. de Juan, Jr. "His significant experience and contacts across the ophthalmic market and his history of developing and launching paradigm-changing technologies will greatly benefit Transcend Medical."
Mr. Zadno is the founder, president, and CEO of Visiogen, a company dedicated to developing an accommodating intra-ocular lens to treat cataract and presbyopia. He was previously at Three Arch Partners as entrepreneur in residence where he founded Visiogen. Prior to joining Three Arch, Reza had co-founded PercuSurge, Inc. in 1995 and served as the Chief Technology Officer until August 2000. Prior to PercuSurge, Reza was with Cardiac Pathways Corporation from the company's early inception where he served as the Director of Advanced Development. He started his career at Raychem Corporation, now Tyco, after receiving his Ph.D. from Ecole des Mines de Paris. Reza is also on the board of Oraya Therapeutics.
"This is an exciting time for Transcend Medical and I am honored to assume leadership of the Board," said Mr. Zadno. "The positive consistency of the early clinical data and the simplicity of the procedure are good indicators that this device has the potential to revolutionize glaucoma care."
About Transcend Medical, Inc.
Transcend Medical is focused on the research and development of medical devices for the treatment of glaucoma, the leading cause of adult irreversible blindness. It is estimated that nearly four million people in the U.S. and 70 million worldwide are afflicted with the disease today and the numbers are expected to grow to nearly six million in the U.S. and to over 80 million worldwide by the year 2013. Transcend Medical's approach is to replace current invasive therapies for glaucoma treatment with a significantly less invasive procedure using a novel, proprietary stent-based system to reduce intraocular pressure. Based in Menlo Park, Calif., Transcend Medical is the first company to be spun out of ForSight Labs, an incubator solely focused on ophthalmic innovations.
About ForSight Labs, LLC
ForSight Labs is a community of ophthalmic innovation focused on improving the sight, care, and quality of life of visually impaired patients by creating high-impact eye care companies (http://www.forsightlabs.com). ForSight Labs, LLC was established in 2005 by renowned ophthalmologist and retinal surgeon Eugene de Juan, Jr., M.D. in collaboration with The Foundry (http://www.thefoundry.com). In December of 2008, ForSight announced the formation of ForSight VISION3, Inc., to pursue development of high impact products for major ophthalmic markets. In October 2007, ForSight's second spin out company ForSight Newco II, Inc., developing a proprietary ocular punctal plug drug delivery system, was acquired by QLT Inc. ForSight Labs is backed by investors Morgenthaler Ventures (http://www.morgenthaler.com), Split Rock Partners (http://www.splitrock.com), and Versant Ventures (http://www.versantventures.com).
Source: Transcend Medical, Inc.