FREMONT, Calif., March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- ViOptix Inc. announced today that Larry C. Heaton II has joined the Company as its President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Mr. Heaton is a 25-year veteran of the healthcare and medical device industry. Most recently, from 2003 to 2006, Mr. Heaton has been the President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Curon Medical, Inc., a public company providing products for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders.
Prior to that, from 2000 to 2003, Mr. Heaton was President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Response Genetics, Inc., an applied genomics start-up firm providing contract research and clinical trial gene expression services to the pharmaceutical industry.
Previously, Mr. Heaton spent 18 years with United States Surgical Corporation, a leading manufacturer of innovative wound closure products and advanced surgical devices with annual sales in excess of one billion dollars. His career, which began in 1982, included leadership positions in various sales, marketing and operations activities worldwide during which he emphasized the building of strong customer-focused sales teams and was actively involved in numerous launches of new and minimally invasive technologies to various surgical specialties. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Heaton served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of United States Surgical and its various subsidiary companies, and led the efforts to acquire and integrate several new divisions, including Davis & Geck, Dexide, General Surgical Innovations (GSI), Origin and Minimally Invasive Surgical Technologies (MIST).
“We are excited to have Larry join and lead our senior management team at ViOptix. His skill set and experience base provide the ideal package needed to ensure the continued growth and success of the company,” commented ViOptix Director, Dr. Michael Cross, Senior Vice President for Jove Investment Management, a major investor in ViOptix Inc. through its Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund.
“ViOptix’ use of near infrared technology and proprietary algorithms to measure oxygen saturation in local tissue gives the clinician the opportunity to avert serious adverse clinical outcomes before symptoms are detectable by any other means,” said Dr. Gerald Chan, Managing Director of Morningside Technology Advisory, LLC. Morningside is a founding and leading investor in ViOptix.
“ViOptix represents a tremendous opportunity to build value through customer focus,” commented Mr. Heaton. “ViOptix’ near infra-red light platform technology has potential applications in a wide variety of clinical applications. With our first FDA-cleared products on the market, we are excited about the potential for accelerating future growth by developing additional clinical applications from the core platform technology.”
About ViOptix Inc.
ViOptix Inc. develops, manufactures and markets innovative proprietary products for measuring oxygen saturation levels in tissues. The Company’s products and products under development consist of near infrared generators and single-use disposable sensor devices. Its first product, the ODISsey System, received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance in January 2005 for the measurement of localized tissue oxygenation levels for critical care applications. For more information on the Company or its products, visit the Company’s website at www.vioptix.com.
About Canadian Medical Discoveries Funds
The Canadian Medical Discoveries Funds (CMDF) is a labour-sponsored venture capital investment fund (LSIF). Established in 1994, CMDF is Canada’s most mature health sciences LSIF specifically targeting biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices and imaging products and other special life sciences opportunities. Together the funds have approximately $200 million in managed assets and have venture capital investments in more than 30 companies involved in health sciences, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical devices, drug discovery and development, health care delivery services and e-health. CMDF offers investors long-term performance potential, 100% RRSP-eligibility and, through its labour-sponsored investment fund structure, eligibility for substantial tax credits. For further information, please contact Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund at (416) 601-2435, or contact via e-mail at info@cmdf.com.
About Morningside Technology Advisory, LLC
Morningside is a diversified investment group founded in 1986 by the Chan family which is the controlling shareholder of the Hang Lung Group in Hong Kong. Morningside is engaged in both private equity and venture capital investments in North America, Europe and across Asia Pacific. In recent years, leveraging on its experience investing in biotechnology companies in North America, Morningside has become the leading investor in the life science sector in China.
Source: ViOptix Inc.
