MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SafeStitch Medical, Inc. (OTCBB:SFES.ob - News) announced that, effective January 19, 2011, James J. Martin has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer of SafeStitch Medical, Inc. (“SafeStitch” or the “Company”). Mr. Martin brings approximately 19 years of financial and accounting experience to SafeStitch, including serving since July 2010 as the Controller of SafeStitch. In his new role, Mr. Martin will be responsible for the management and direction of the Company’s finance and accounting organization.
Mr. Martin’s previous experience includes serving as Controller of AAR Aircraft Services–Miami a subsidiary of AAR Corp, an aerospace and defense company in which he was responsible for all financial reporting and logistics for AAR Aircraft Services-Miami. He also served as Controller of Avborne Heavy Maintenance prior to its acquisition by AAR Corp. In addition to his career in finance and accounting, Mr. Martin served 5 years in the United States Navy as an Operations Specialist. In addition to serving as SafeStitch’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Martin will also serve as the Chief Financial Officer of Non-Invasive Monitoring Systems, Inc., a publicly-held medical device company and Vice President of Finance of Aero Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Aero”), a privately held pharmaceutical distributor.
“We are pleased that Mr. Martin has taken on the role of Chief Financial Officer for SafeStitch. Over the past six months, Jim has shown he has the skills necessary to effectively oversee the Company’s finance and accounting functions. We look forward to working with Jim as SafeStitch moves from an R&D company to one of product commercialization, clinical trials and sales,” said Jeffrey G. Spragens, President and CEO of SafeStitch.
About SafeStitch Medical, Inc.
Miami-based SafeStitch Medical, Inc. is a medical device company primarily developing endoscopic and minimally invasive surgical devices. SafeStitch’s product portfolio includes endoscopic gastroplasty devices for bariatric (obesity) surgery and repair of gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD), as well as the AMID Stapler®, Standard BiteBlock, Airway BiteBlock and SMART Dilator™. SafeStitch has also started development of devices for excision and diagnosis of Barrett’s esophagus and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES). Information about the Company may be found on its website at: www.safestitch.com.
This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” as that term is defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which statements may be identified by words such as “expects,” “plans,” “projects,” “will,” “may,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “should,” “intends,” “estimates,” and other words of similar meaning, including statements regarding our product development, commercialization and marketing efforts, as well as other non-historical statements about our expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding our business, technologies and products, financial condition, strategies or prospects. Many factors, including those described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause our actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements. These factors include integrating new personnel, including Mr. Martin into our existing management team, Mr. Martin’s finance and accounting skills, our ability to market and launch our products, that the commercialization of our devices may be delayed or may be unsuccessful, that we will be unable to successfully develop and commercialize our minimally invasive gastroplasty devices for obesity and GERD procedures. In addition, forward-looking statements may also be adversely affected by risks inherent in funding, developing and obtaining regulatory approvals of new, commercially-viable and competitive products and treatments, general market factors, competitive product development, product availability, federal and state regulations and legislation, the regulatory process for new products and indications, manufacturing issues that may arise, patent positions and litigation, among other factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statements were made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law. We intend that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the PSLRA.
Contact:
SafeStitch Medical, Inc., Miami Jeffrey Spragens, 305-575-4146 President & CEO
