Ventracor Limited (ASX: VCR) has announced the appointment of Mr Peter Crosby as its new CEO replacing Colin Sutton PhD who is retiring. Dr Sutton’s retirement is in accordance with the timeline agreed at the time of his appointment and has the full support of the Board.
Mr Crosby, who takes up the appointment in August, has been Ventracor’s Chief Operating Officer for the past 17 months. Announcing the appointment, Ventracor Chairman, John Massey, said the appointment of Mr Crosby enables a seamless transition at a critical time for the company and builds on the strong progress made by Dr Sutton.
“We are making very good progress in our clinical trials which are all-important to obtaining regulatory approvals and Ventracor has a distinct requirement for a CEO with a strong commercial orientation.
“Since the time of Dr Sutton’s appointment, Ventracor has built its manufacturing, clinical and regulatory teams, and its quality systems, as well as creating momentum in the demanding process of gaining regulatory approval through clinical trials. Dr Sutton has been a CEO for the times and I acknowledge his extremely valuable contribution.
Dr Sutton said he was pleased to be handing over management of Ventracor to someone of Mr Crosby’s experience and commercial acumen. “He will lead Ventracor into its next phase with energy and skill. The company is well positioned, it has a great team with a very positive outlook and, given Mr Crosby has been with the company for 17 months, the handover will ensure that momentum is sustained,” Mr Massey said.
Dr Sutton will be staying on as a consultant to both the board and Mr Crosby for three months to ensure the smoothest possible transition.
Mr Massey said the Board had for some time anticipated the next critical phase of Ventracor’s development. Following a global executive search by an external adviser, Peter Crosby was confirmed as the Board’s choice to drive strong performance in the future.
“Now that our manufacturing and quality processes are in place, our unwavering focus is to drive clinical trials and gain regulatory approval in Europe and the USA so that we can begin to generate increased revenues as a successful global business.”
“We anticipate CE Mark approval by the first quarter of 2007 and we are continuing to make progress in the US clinical trials targeted at US regulatory approval.”
“Peter Crosby has more than 20 years’ experience in the global commercialisation of cardiac medical devices and his ‘fit’ with the company at this time is ideal,” Mr Massey added.
Before joining Ventracor Mr Crosby was President and CEO of Ischemia Technologies, a US-based company which developed a new diagnostic test for cardiac ischemia.
Mr Crosby holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Engineering Science from the University of Melbourne and was one of the pioneering team at Cochlear.
Mr Crosby said he was delighted to have been appointed.
“As we prepare to undertake our commercial launch in Europe, the next few months are clearly critical for us. As well, we will begin or expand other studies – we have just implanted the first patient in a new study, a sixteen year old girl, in Norway – and move as quickly as possible to generating increased revenue.
“In Europe, we have successfully completed what is known as the CE Mark Trial and we confidently expect approval to commence commercial sales early in 2007. In the US, trials are well underway to meet the regulatory approval requirements in that market.
“In total, there have been 60 third generation VentrAssist devices (a left ventricle assist device or LVAD) implanted into people aged from 10 to 75 years in 9 centres across 5 countries. More of our VentrAssist LVADs have now been implanted than all third generation centrifugal pumps from all of our competitors combined,” Mr Crosby said.
“The Ventrassist offers hope for extended life and it is gratifying to see that so many people have already benefited from this groundbreaking Australian technology.”
“As a consequence of all the hard work and development, Ventracor is now well placed to establish a strong foothold in the global market,” Mr Crosby added.
About Ventracor Ventracor is a global medical device company which has developed a blood pump, the VentrAssist left ventricular assist device (LVAD) for patients in heart failure. Ventracor plans to bring the VentrAssist to the global market.
Further information, please contact:
Mr John Massey Chairman Ventracor Limited + 61 2 9406 3100
Mr Peter Crosby Incoming CEO Ventracor Limited +61 2 09406 3086
Colin Sutton PhD Retiring CEO +61 2 9406 3100
