UPDATED 2/17/2011 11:30 a.m.
Jerry Benjamin, Orthofix International N.V. (NSDQ:OFIX) board member and former general partner of Advent Venture Partners, passed away unexpectedly on February 8th at his home outside of London, the company said. Orthofix released a statement announcing Benjamin’s passing.
Benjamin’s career began at Monsanto’s healthcare and petrochemical businesses, including a period as director of corporate venture capital. He later joined Advent Venture Partners, serving as a general Partner until his retirement. His many accomplishments there included the successful development of Advent’s investment activities in the healthcare and medical sectors. After retirement, he continued his involvement with Advent as an advisor to the Life Sciences team. Benjamin served as a non-executive director of a number of companies, including eighteen years on the board of Orthofix, most recently as Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Here’s the latest personnel changes from medical device, diagnostics and life science companies around the nation. For more recent hirings and firings, check out MassDevice’s compilation of the latest personnel moves.
- Baxter names two corporate officers
Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) announced today that its board elected two new corporate officers of the company.Paul E. Martin, who joined Baxter earlier this year as CIO, has been appointed to serve as an officer of the company. Martin joined Baxter from Rexam PLC, the U.K.-based packaging manufacturer, where he held the position of Group CIO, responsible for all Information Technology functions across more than 20 countries. During his eleven years with Rexam, Martin served in a variety of key senior management positions including Vice President and CIO Beverage Can Americas and Head of Information Technology for American National Can (acquired by Rexam PLC). Prior to Rexam, he worked for The CIT Group, BNSF Railway and Frito Lay. Martin received his degree in Management Information Systems from Western Kentucky University.
Wolf F. Kupatt, who currently serves as president of Latin America and Canada, has also been appointed to serve as an officer of the company. Kupatt was promoted to his current position in 2010, after serving as general manager for Baxter’s operations in Germany. Before joining Baxter, Kupatt served as vice president, Primary Care, Germany, for Bristol-Myers Squibb from 2002 to 2007. Between 1989 and 2002, Kupatt served in a variety of senior management roles for the Roche group in Germany, Ecuador and Colombia. Kupatt received a degree in Medicine from the University of Bonn in Germany in 1986. He has been a member of the board of directors of the BPI Pharmaceutical Industry Association since 2007.
Read more - Stryker director Donald Engelman to retire
Stryker Corp. (NYSE:SYK) director Donald Engelman notified the Kalamazoo, Mich.-based company that he plans to step down from its board, according to a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Engelman’s retirement will be effective April 26, 2011, the date of Stryker’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
Read more - Medical devices and diagnostics analyst joins MLV to expand its coverage of life sciences
McNicoll, Lewis & Vlak LLC, a boutique investment bank focused on capital intensive industries, announced that Caroline Corner joined the firm as a Managing director in Research where she will cover the Medical Devices and Diagnostics sector within the firm’s broader Life Sciences Group.
Read more - Echo Therapeutics announces appointments to board
Echo Therapeutics Inc. (OTC:ECTE), a company developing the Symphony tCGM System as a non-invasive, wireless, transdermal continuous glucose monitoring (tCGM) system and the Prelude SkinPrep System for transdermal drug delivery, today announced the appointment of William Grieco and James Smith to its board. Echo’s board now has a majority of independent directors which is necessary to obtain a listing on a national exchange. Grieco and Smith collectively bring to Echo more than 60 years of executive-level industry, capital markets, regulatory and commercial experience with specific concentrations in healthcare and biotechnology.
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