John Ahern is back at the company he ran for nine years, just one year after giving up his board seat and resigning his post as CEO.
NMT Medical Inc. (NSDQ:NMTI), a Boston-based device company developing implants that allow interventional cardiologists to treat structural heart disease through catheter-based procedures, said it is bringing Ahern back as a member of the company’s board. His addition means the company will increase the number of seats on its board to seven.
Officials said Ahern will be a great value to the the company as it moves toward the data analysis portion of its Closure 1 trial in April. The company recently wrapped up a $5.8 million private placement to fund the trials of the company’s Starflex implant, which is intended to demonstrate whether the catheter-based procedure to patch small holes between chambers of the heart is more effective than standard drug treatments in preventing the re-occurrence of stroke.
NMT COO Rick Davis recently told MassDevice that “provided the data is good,” the company will move forward on clearing the regulatory process.
Ahern served as NMT’s president and CEO from September 2000 to February 2009. He also served as the chairman of NMT’s board from September 2000 to January 2008. In February 2009 he resigned his post and the company brought in current CEO Frank Martin to run the show.
Martin, who was initially named “interim” CEO, was given the post permanently in April 2009.