People In Brief
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Biotronik CRM: Veteran Medtronic cardiac rhythm management unit executive Patrick L. Horan joins Biotronik May 14 as VP of corporate sales for U.S. operations, where he will help drive sales for implantable cardioverter defibrillators and pacemakers. The Berlin-based cardiovascular device company has increased efforts in the past several years to push into the U.S. CRM market, still dominated by Medtronic, Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical. Horan left Medtronic last year and briefly went to surgical device firm Synovis Life Technologies before joining Biotronik. Horan has also been active in the group purchasing organization community as a board member of the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association (1"The Gray Sheet" Dec. 14, 2009)
You may also be interested in...
People In Brief
Genzyme COO: David Meeker will fill the newly created role of chief operating officer, the diversified biotechnology firm said March 30. The new position integrates all aspects of Genzyme's commercial organization. With Genzyme since 1994, Meeker has headed the Genetic Diseases, Biosurgery and Transplant businesses, and in 2009 initiated the transformation of the company's global manufacturing and quality operations. He will now oversee the firm's business units, country management organization and global market access functions
Research In Brief
WorldHeart VAD study begins: Pivotal study of the Levacor ventricular assist device as a bridge to cardiac transplantation is under way, with the first successful implant occurring Jan. 13, according to WorldHeart. FDA granted conditional approval to begin the trial, which is ultimately expected to include 160 patients and 10 clinical sites, last August (1"The Gray Sheet" Aug. 24, 2009). Levacor is a bearingless, fully magnetically levitated, implantable centrifugal pump. Thoratec's HeartMate II and HeartMate XVE are the only left ventricular assist devices currently approved for bridge-to-transplant therapy. Thoratec announced last week it had received FDA approval for HeartMate II as a destination therapy, as well
People In Brief
Medtronic doc hire: Martin Rothman will join the company Jan. 4 as VP of medical affairs for Medtronic's Santa Clara, Calif., coronary and peripheral vascular business. Rothman is an interventional cardiologist from the United Kingdom, where he spent 27 years at the London Chest Hospital