May 4, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
ALBANY, N.Y. – After one year at the helm of AngioDynamics , Chief Executive Officer Jim Clemmer said the reorganization he implemented in April 2016 is yielding positive results and propelling the company into a new level of growth.
Clemmer took over the reins of AngioDynamics in April 2016 and set out to implement a new strategic vision for the company that included a consolidation of manufacturing resources and a streamlining of the structure, people and products. AngioDynamics is a leading provider of innovative, minimally invasive medical devices for vascular access, surgery, peripheral vascular disease and oncology.
“When I joined AngioDynamics, I joined with a perspective of spending over 26 years in the medical device business,” Clemmer said from his Albany offices in an exclusive interview with BioSpace. “I had a good perspective. I wanted to look for opportunities to raise performance levels. We started to look at what could be done differently.”
One of the first things Clemmer saw was that AngioDynamics was overly complicated in the way it operated–particularly for a company of its size. Before joining AngioDynamics, Clemmer served as president of the Medical Supplies segment at Covidien . Clemmer took over AngioDynamics after former CEO Joseph M. DeVivo stepped down after five years to pursue other interests.
“AngioDynamics was a $350 million company. I came from a $12 billion company and we ran it in a more urgent and simpler fashion. We focused on less things there and at AngioDynamics we had to learn to say no to some things. A company of our size does not have the resources to say yes to many things,” he said. “We had to learn to say no to some things.”
Clemmer also wanted to reinforce the company’s commitment to research and development. Clemmer pared its four R&D sites down to two to streamline capacity. He said it was necessary to streamline its R&D process and provide it with more oversight that would help researchers eliminate products early in the process that weren’t going to meet standards. Now the company has a more rigorous process that allows those closest to customers to “bubble up ideas,” which Clemmer said means more things enter the company’s pipeline at a new level of rigor.
So far that process seems to be working–internally and externally. Clemmer said AngioDynamics’ employees have embraced the changes he implemented and are looking to continue to transition into a next-level company.
Investors are also keenly paying attention to what’s going on at AngioDynamics. In early April Clemmer and AngioDynamics held an investors day conference in New York to explain the new company strategy and near future plans, which includes the expected launch of three products over the next two years. While Clemmer did not get into the specifics of the expected products, he said the company remains committed to the development of products to treat vein disease, new types of catheters and thrombus (clot) management.
Additionally, Clemmer touted the company’s NanoKnife system, a tool that uses electrical pulses for the surgical ablation of soft tissue. Clemmer said the company is looking at its uses in pancreatic cancer. He said the company is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to share data from physicians for indications in pancreatic cancer. Prior to Clemmer joining AngioDynamics, the company received a warning letter from the FDA regarding promotional activities related to the NanoKnife. The company got out from under the cloud of the letter in 2015.
Clemmer said AngioDynamics is in a good position as it anticipates future growth. In Albany the company has access to engineering talent from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. and could also see some benefits from the biotech growth in the Hudson Valley. Clemmer said he anticipates that the majority of near-term growth for the company will come organically, but said there is a good chance they will add some outside technology, which could spur the need for hiring.
“We’ll do one thing at a time. But we are focused on the development of internal talent to help foster growth of the company,” he said. “That’s something that leading to a strong company culture at AngioDynamics. People want to do more and we want to keep our people engaged. The companies with the best people win.”
