PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - 02/23/11) - AirXpanders Inc., a company developing technology to address current unmet needs for patients who require tissue expansion for reconstructive surgery, announced today that it has named medical device industry veteran Scott Dodson as President and Chief Executive Officer. Dodson has over 24 years of experience building successful global device businesses for early-stage and Fortune 500 companies.
“We are excited to have Scott helping bring new, innovative tissue expansion technologies to women who are undergoing reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy,” said Barry Cheskin, co-founder and Chairman of AirXpanders, Inc. “Scott was chosen for his extensive leadership experience in building high performance teams and driving clinical, regulatory and commercial outcomes. He has already made a significant impact at the company, helping prepare it for a U.S. clinical trial, international expansion and commercial success.”
Prior to joining AirXpanders, Dodson was President and CEO of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Avantis Medical Systems where he led the company through three prospective clinical trials including the largest randomized, controlled, tandem-designed device trial ever. The strong clinical work led to the FDA clearance and launch of first- and second-generation gastrointestinal imaging tools and led the company in obtaining the first Medicare pass-through code issued in gastroenterology in five years. Dodson also raised over $20 million for the company in one of the most challenging financial environments in decades.
From 2006-2008, Mr. Dodson was the President of Orthopedics for Orthofix, Inc. where he built a growth-oriented global business unit. From 2003 to 2006 Dodson was Vice President of Boston Scientific’s $800 million Endoscopy business where he led global marketing efforts. From 1991 to 2003 Dodson held key leadership positions in Boston Scientific’s Urology and International business units. He also led the “New Modalities” initiative for strategic transactions and started Boston Scientific’s global market development group, designed to execute new device introductions prior to full commercial release.
“The AirXpanders mission is enormously important: to offer physicians the first true innovation in tissue expansion in more than 30 years,” Dodson said. “In breast cancer reconstruction, women have historically had to endure long, arduous and often painful percutaneous inflations using conventional saline expanders to create a pocket for a permanent implant following a mastectomy. The AirXpanders system offers needle-free, controlled, daily expansion and the potential for a much shorter recovery period that will allow women the opportunity to regain their body shape following the ravages of cancer more quickly than they can today.”
The company recently submitted an IDE (Investigational Device Exemption) to the FDA to initiate a safety and performance trial for the AirXpanders system in mastectomy patients. This will be the company’s second clinical study and will serve as the basis for its application in support of a 510(k) clearance.
About AirXpanders AirXpanders Inc. is a tissue-expansion company focused on the area of breast cancer reconstruction. By employing a revolutionary patient-controlled expander, activated by a wireless remote control unit, the sometimes painful process of recovering one’s body from cancer is now eased with needle-free technology that is less painful, easy to use, and may allow the patient to proceed to a permanent implant much faster than current standard-of-care allows. AirXpanders is backed by GBS Venture Partners, Heron Capital, Prolog Ventures and Shalon Ventures. Contact:
Media Contact Hollister Hovey Lazar Partners Ltd. Email Contact 646-871-8482
