Rolf A. Classon Joins Masimo’s Board of Directors

Masimo has appointed Rolf A. Classon, an experienced medical technology executive and board member, to its Board of Directors.

From October 2002 until his retirement in July 2004, Classon chaired Bayer HealthCare AG’s Executive Committee. He served as president of Bayer Diagnostics from 1995 to 2002 and as executive vice president of Bayer Diagnostics from 1991 to 1995. Before that, Classon held various management positions with Pharmacia Corporation.

Masimo CEO/Chairman Joe Kiani said, “We’re happy to welcome Rolf to our board. We look forward to working with him and benefitting from his vast experience as a medical technology executive and board member.”

Classon has served as Vice Chairman of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA’s Supervisory Board since 2011, and as BICO Group AB board chairman since May 2023, having joined its governing body in April 2022. Classon also has served on Catalent inc.’s board since 2014.
 
Classon was previously board chairman of Perrigo Company plc, Tecan Group Ltd., Hill-Rom Corporation, and Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He also previously served on the Boards of Directors of Sequanna Medical AG, Aerocrine AB, Stockholm, Millipore Corporation, Prometheus Laboratories Inc., and Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc.
 
Classon earned his chemical engineering certificate from the Gothenburg School of Engineering and a business degree from the Gothenburg University. 
 
“I’m honored to join Masimo’s Board,” Classon stated. “I’m excited to help shape the next stage of Masimo’s growth while driving long-term value for Masimo and its shareholders.”
 
Masimo develops and produces monitoring technologies, including innovative measurements, sensors, patient monitors, and automation and connectivity solutions. Masimo SET Measure-through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, introduced in 1995, has been shown in more than 100 independent and objective studies to outperform other pulse oximetry technologies.¹ Masimo SET has also been shown to help clinicians reduce severe retinopathy of prematurity in neonates,² improve CCHD screening in newborns,³ and, when used for continuous monitoring with Masimo Patient SafetyNet in post-surgical wards, reduce rapid response team activations, ICU transfers, and costs.^4-7 Masimo SET is estimated to be used on more than 200 million patients worldwide,⁸ and is the primary pulse oximetry at nine of the top 10 hospitals as ranked in the 2022-23 U.S. News and World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll.⁹ In 2005, Masimo introduced rainbow Pulse CO-Oximetry technology, allowing noninvasive and continuous monitoring of blood constituents that previously could only be measured invasively, including total hemoglobin (SpHb), oxygen content (SpOC), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO), methemoglobin (SpMet), Pleth Variability Index (PVi), RPVi (rainbow PVi), and Oxygen Reserve Index (ORi). In 2013, Masimo introduced the Roo® Patient Monitoring and Connectivity Platform, built from the ground up to be as flexible and expandable as possible to facilitate the addition of other Masimo and third-party monitoring technologies; key Masimo additions include Next Generation SedLine Brain Function Monitoring, O3 Regional Oximetry, and ISA Capnography with NomoLine sampling lines. Masimo’s family of continuous and spot-check monitoring Pulse CO-Oximeters includes devices designed for use in clinical and non-clinical scenarios, including tetherless, wearable technology, such as Radius-7, Radius PPG, and Radius VSM, portable devices like Rad-67, fingertip pulse oximeters like MightySat Rx, and devices available for use both in the hospital and at home, such as Rad-97. Masimo hospital and home automation and connectivity solutions are centered around the Masimo Hospital Automation platform, and include Iris Gateway, iSirona, Patient SafetyNet, Replica, Halo ION, UniView, UniView :60, and Masimo SafetyNet. Its portfolio of health and wellness solutions includes Radius Tº, Masimo W1, and Masimo Stork. 
 
RPVi has not received FDA 510(k) clearance and is not available for sale in the United States. The use of the trademark Patient SafetyNet is under license from University HealthSystem Consortium.
 
References
¹ Published clinical studies on pulse oximetry and the benefits of Masimo SET® can be found on our website at http://www.masimo.com. Comparative studies include independent and objective studies which are comprised of abstracts presented at scientific meetings and peer-reviewed journal articles.
² Castillo A et al. Prevention of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Preterm Infants through Changes in Clinical Practice and SpO2 Technology. Acta Paediatr. 2011 Feb;100(2):188-92.
³ de-Wahl Granelli A et al. Impact of pulse oximetry screening on the detection of duct dependent congenital heart disease: a Swedish prospective screening study in 39,821 newborns. BMJ. 2009;Jan 8;338.
⁴ Taenzer A et al. Impact of pulse oximetry surveillance on rescue events and intensive care unit transfers: a before-and-after concurrence study. Anesthesiology. 2010:112(2):282-287.
⁵ Taenzer A et al. Postoperative Monitoring – The Dartmouth Experience. Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Newsletter. Spring-Summer 2012.
⁶ McGrath S et al. Surveillance Monitoring Management for General Care Units: Strategy, Design, and Implementation. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 2016 Jul;42(7):293-302.
⁷ McGrath S et al. Inpatient Respiratory Arrest Associated With Sedative and Analgesic Medications: Impact of Continuous Monitoring on Patient Mortality and Severe Morbidity. J Patient Saf. 2020 14 Mar. DOI: 10.1097/PTS.0000000000000696.
⁸ Estimate: Masimo data on file.
⁹ http://health.usnews.com/health-care/best-hospitals/articles/best-hospitals-honor-roll-and-overview.