Bovie Medical Gains $7 Million in Funding

Melville, N.Y.-based Bovie Medical Corporation, a manufacturer of electrosurgical products, has completed a $7 million funding through Great Point Partners LLC (GPP). This new influx of funding has prompted a company reorganization, with former CEO Andrew Makrides taking on the role of executive chairman of the board, replaced by Robert Gershon who will be the new CEO. Bovie has also added Ian Sheffield to its board of directors as the first of two GPP designees. When the second designee is announced, Michael Norman will step down from the board.

Gershon has over 25 years of healthcare industry experience. On the operations side he ran the largest sales and marketing business at Covidien. With over $1 billion in profit and loss (P&L) responsibility he led an organization of over 600 people to double-digit revenue growth outpacing market category growth and capturing significant market share points during challenging healthcare economic conditions. He also was vice president of sales and marketing at medical supplies company Henry Schein and earlier in his career spent over 13 years as a healthcare consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., KPMG and two boutique consultancies where his practice focused on strategic planning, business development and mergers and acquisitions. Gershon received an MBA from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill. and a B.S./B.A. degree from American University in Washington, D.C.

“These are the most dynamic times our industry has ever seen and with innovative growth technologies such as J-Plasma coupled with a robust pipeline of great new products Bovie is well-poised for explosive growth,” said Gershon.

New board member Ian Sheffield was previously employed by Versant Ventures and Medtronic and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Mass. Sheffield and Gershon fill vacancies of resigning board members August Lentricchia and George Kromer.

“We look forward to participating in Bovie’s next phase of growth,” said Sheffield. “We are pleased to partner with the company during this exciting period of Bovie’s history.”

Bovie’s management believes that the $7 million in funding and the associated operational changes will accelerate the growth of J-Plasma which, according to the company, continues to gain support from surgeons across the United States.


According to Bovie, J-Plasma is a surgical tool that uses a gas ionization process to produce a stable, thin beam of ionized gas from the device’s hand piece. Currently the company is focusing on the gynecological surgery market and anticipates entry into other surgical specialties such as dermatology, oncology and ENT (ear, nose and throat).