GI Dynamics named a pair of executives to its marketing and international operations as it gears up for the European launch of its gastrointestinal sleeve, the EndoBarrier.
The Lexington, Mass.-based firm tapped Wade Fox for vice president of marketing and Karl Blohm for its newly created vice president of international position.
Fox, formerly global director of strategic marketing for Covidien plc’s (NYSE:COV) biologics and tissue repair operation, has 20 years’ worth of experience in medical device marketing. His resumé includes tenures at Tissuescience Inc., Diomed Inc., Abiomed Inc, Smith and Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN), Endoscopy Division and Baxter International (NYSE:BAX), according to a press release.
Blohm, also a 20-year vet of the medical device world and a physicist by training, was partner and general manager of AB Medica, the French device distributor he helped establish. He’s worked for EndoGastric Solutions, Accuray’s (NSDQ:ARAY) European division and Siemens.
GI Dynamics won CE Mark approval for the EndoBarrier, a gut sleeve designed to treat Type II diabetes and obesity, in December 2009. The device is a a non-surgical “sleeve” placed in the upper intestine to help regulate the absorption of carbohydrates from food and reducing the buildup of sugar in red blood cells in people with Type II diabetes. The device, originally developed for weight control, is in clinical trials ahead of an application for Food & Drug Administration clearance, but the company has not disclosed a timeline for the likely application.*
Earlier this year, Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) made a strategic, $15 million investment in the firm.
*Correction, Aug. 19, 2010: This article originally stated that GI Dynamics is prepping the EndoBarrier for a Phase II clinical trial. The company has not released a timeline either for a Phase II trial or for any FDA applications. Return to the corrected sentence.