AtriCure CEO Resigns

AtriCure CEO Resigns

On Aug. 2, the day cardiac company AtriCure Inc. held its second quarter earnings call, there was a surprise announcement that the company also would be losing its president and CEO of 10 years, David J. Drachman. Drachman will remain with the cardiac device company until Sept. 30 to help facilitate the transition between leadership. There were no reasons disclosed either from the company or Drachman himself for his voluntary resignation.

Drachman previously has held positions at Biosense Webster Inc. (a Johnson & Johnson company), Ventritex Inc., and Boston Scientific Corporation. His most recent position before AtriCure was president of Impulse Dynamics N.V., a development stage medical device company focusing on implantable electrical solutions for the treatment of heart failure, diabetes and eating disorders.

Concurrently, AtriCure has formed an office of the chairman led by Richard M. Johnston, chairman of AtriCure’s board of directors. The office of the chairman will assume the responsibilities of Drachman during the transition. Serving alongside Johnston will be Michael D. Hooven, a member of the board since 2000 who also served as president and CEO between 2000 and 2002.

During the earnings call, Drachman addressed the announcement that had come earlier that day:
“As president and chief executive officer for the past 10 years, I have had the good fortune to develop professional partnerships and friendships with the AtriCure team as well as our physician community, advisors and stakeholders, as we strived together to advent our mission of improving and preserving human life through innovation, clinical science, and secured education.”

As representative of the board, Johnston had kind words to share. “On behalf of the Board, management and employees of AtriCure, I would like to thank Mr. Drachman for his dedication and contribution to AtriCure over the past 10 years,” Johnston said. “Dave has been instrumental in helping the company persevere through challenges. It is from his contribution alongside the AtriCure team, that AtriCure is now well-positioned for continued growth and success in expanding the treatment options for atrial fibrillation. We wish him all the best on his future endeavors.”

A new CEO has not yet been named, but the office of the chairman will act as interim CEO for the time being.

“We are highly committed to the execution of our strategic initiatives at AtriCure,” Johnston continued. “As we conduct a search for a new CEO, Mike Hooven and I will work alongside the management team to carry out strategic and operational priorities of the company.”

In late 2011, analysts viewed AtriCure as a likely acquisition target because of its burgeoning atrial fibrillation (AF) product portfolio. Larger medical device companies attempting to boost their own AF portfolios, according to MedCity News, would do well to consider AtriCure as a strategic purchase.
According to the Heart Rhythm Society, AF-related hospitalizations are predicted to climb to over 3.3 million by 2025, and will be a “staggering burden” on public health and patients’ quality of life.

Now, analysts who have been buzzing about the likelihood of AtriCure being acquired are unsure where Drachman’s resignation leaves the company. Whether it will make the company less attractive due to perceived instability, or more attractive due to easy takeover of leadership, is the question in the air.

“We’ve always viewed them as a likely acquisition target for a larger company, and this perhaps simplifies that,” said Matthew Dolan, a senior research analyst at Roth Capital Partners, an investment banking firm in Newport Beach, Calif. In September last year, Dolan was predicting an increase in AtriCure’s strategic value over the next 12 to 18 months.

Based in West Chester, Ohio, AtriCure provides cardiac surgical ablation systems designed to create precise lesions or scars in cardiac tissue for the treatment of AF, and systems for the exclusion of the left atrial appendage.

Qforma Appoints New VP of Business Development

Thiede

Santa Fe, N.M.-based Qforma, a healthcare data, analytics and predictive modeling technology company, has named Douglas Thiede its new vice president of business development. Thiede joins Qforma from the Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) where he played a key role in growing its life-sciences business. Thiede established and grew relationships with many pharmaceutical and medical device companies, and he most certainly will bring the benefit of those relationships with him to Qforma.

“Doug joins our growing Qforma team with a 15-year background in sales, marketing, management, business development and product launches,” said Al Reicheg, chief commercial officer of Qforma. “He is an innovative and entrepreneurial strategist whose unique diversity of experience will bring significant value to our customers.”

Prior to GLG, Thiede spent several years leading teams in the medical device industry at ABS Med Inc. and Source Surgical Inc., where he represented more than 15 medical device manufacturers and was responsible for growth across multiple product lines. He also was a sales executive with Aventis Pharmaceuticals (now Sanofi-Aventis) in the respiratory and diabetes divisions. Thiede is a regularly featured panelist at healthcare industry conferences.

Qforma provides services such as connecting products with the best and most lucrative markets, the development of new tools for sales and marketing, and handling large and disparate sets of data. The company also has offices in Princeton, N.J.

iRhythm Appoints New President and Chief Executive

King

Medical device service company iRhythm Technologies Inc.’s board of directors has appointed Kevin King to succeed Bill Willis as president, CEO and board member. King brings nearly three decades of experience in successive corporate leadership roles. Willis will remain with the firm to assist with the transition.

“Kevin is a seasoned CEO with a track record of success across the healthcare industry. His direct leadership experience in cardiology diagnostics and previous successes executing on complex service and IT business models will be of great value as we seek to continue to expand iRhythm’s business,” said William N. Starling, iRhythm’s chairman of the board. “Bill Willis did a tremendous job of leading the company from a revolutionary concept to a commercial company that has benefited more than 70,000 patients to date. We are excited to now bring in Kevin to lead us through this next stage of growth.”

King noted that there is “significant opportunity for rapid expansion,” for the 6-year-old company.
King most recently served as president and CEO of Affymetrix Inc., where he led a new growth strategy into the multi-billion dollar market for downstream validation and molecular diagnostics. Previously, King was president and CEO of Thomson Healthcare, an information services business focused on a range of healthcare-related companies. King has also held leadership roles at GE Healthcare, where he led a several-fold increase of the clinical systems business. He also held key leadership positions within Hewlett Packard’s Medical Products Group including in research and development, sales, marketing and business development.

King earned his bachelor’s from the University of Massachusetts and an MBA from New Hampshire College.

iRhythm provides diagnostic monitoring solutions that facilitate early diagnosis and treatment decisions, with the goal of ultimately improving patient health outcomes and reducing wasteful healthcare spending. Its flagship product, the Zio Patch, is designed to optimize and simplify the diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmias. The company is based in San Francisco, Calif.

Device Manufacturing Industry Vet Named CEO of Resonetics
Nashua, N.H.-based micromachining company Resonetics has named Tom Burns as its new CEO. Burns joins the company from Tegra Medical, where he served as vice president of business development.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity at Resonetics,” said Burns. “As medical devices and diagnostics continue to shrink and utilize novel materials, Resonetics’ experience with polymer laser micromachining and automation offers OEMs a very flexible and cost-effective applications development and manufacturing solution to meet their most demanding design requirements.”

Burns has vast experience in the medical device industry and contract manufacturing. At Tegra, he led the strategy and customer service operations for five acquired companies. Prior to Tegra, he served as vice president of sales and marketing for Web Industries Inc., a contract manufacturer serving the medical diagnostics and aerospace industries. Burns spent nine years with Accellent Inc. and two of its acquired companies in various sales and marketing roles, providing contract engineering and manufacturing services to the medical device industry. In the first 10 years of his career, Burns served in different sales, marketing and management roles for Genzyme Corporation, Edwards Lifesciences LLC, and Johnson & Johnson. He earned a B.S./B.A. from Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.

“We’re pleased to have Tom lead the Resonetics team as we continue to hone our focus on the life sciences industry,” said John Simons, board chairman and partner at Corporate Fuel, owner of Resonetics. “His experience developing winning business solutions combined with his strong leadership skills and industry knowledge will be important as we continue to execute on our vision.”

Resonetics provides polymer laser micromachining solutions and systems for medical device and diagnostic manufacturing and other applications requiring precision laser processing.

Corporate Fuel Partners is a private equity affiliate of Corporate Fuel Advisors, a New York, N.Y.-based investment banking firm.

Tegra already has found a replacement for Burns’ former position. The Franklin, Mass.-based medical device machining company promoted Walter Gacek to vice president of business development. Gacek will continue to be in charge of all sales and marketing at Tegra. He has almost three decades of medical device industry experience and knowledge of technical aspects of medical device contract manufacturing.