MONROVIA, Calif., Sept. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- STAAR Surgical
Company (NASDAQ: STAA), a leading developer, manufacturer and
marketer of implantable lenses for the eye, today announced key
additions to its senior management team as it builds a stronger
foundation to drive growth opportunities. James Francese (48) has joined STAAR Surgical as
V.P. of Global Marketing; Robin
Hughes (48) has been named V.P. of Research and Development,
Regulatory and Quality; and Craig
Felberg (61) has been named V.P. of Business
Development.
"These leadership transitions are designed to help fuel our
revenue growth in three ways: more effectively and aggressively
market STAAR products globally, bring new products to market more
quickly and evaluate additional new technologies and business
opportunities which will allow us to grow within our area of
strategic focus," said CEO Barry
Caldwell.
Mr. Francese has 22 years of experience in ophthalmology,
including 14 years marketing surgical products with Abbott Medical
Optics, formerly Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) and Allergan.
During his time at AMO, Mr. Francese held several positions of
executive level responsibilities, including Head of Marketing,
Americas for all surgical, refractive and corneal products, Head of
Global Corneal Marketing responsible for all consumer products, and
V.P. of Asia Pacific Region where he had full P&L
responsibility for cataract and refractive during his tenure. He
received his Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University, Master of Science degree from
the University of Washington and Master
of Business Administration degree from the University of Southern California. Mr. Caldwell
stated, "Jim is an excellent addition to the STAAR team and his
experience in refractive, cataract and consumer products will be
very valuable for our strategic product growth plans. His
experience in consumer products will add to our ability to drive
Visian ICL sales through consumer awareness campaigns and his
background in technology will also assist in marketing efforts to
more aggressively develop new key messaging on our Collamer based
technologies. Jim is very well respected in the industry by
both surgeons and his colleagues."
Mr. Hughes has over 20 years of experience in the ophthalmic
industry including the past five as V.P. of Global Marketing at
STAAR. His scientific background includes qualifications in
medical microbiology from The Royal London Hospital, and in human
physiology and cell biology from the University of Westminster. He also earned a Master of
Business Administration from Henley Management College. "Robin has
demonstrated a keen sense for ophthalmic technologies and will
manage the new product organic growth plans very effectively.
These plans include the Visian ICL enhancements in V5 and V6 and
enhanced nanoFLEX designs for the short term. He will also
bring an enhanced skill set to focus and manage the complex global
regulatory requirements for commercialization of our new products,"
continued Mr. Caldwell.
Mr. Felberg will lead a Business Development team consisting of
STAAR's General Counsel Sam Gesten,
Robin Hughes and CEO Barry Caldwell. He has 30 years of
experience in the ophthalmic surgical business including the past
five years as V.P. of Research and Development at STAAR. He
received his Bachelor of Arts in Management from the University of Redlands and Master of Business
Administration from Pepperdine
University. Mr. Caldwell added, "Craig's experience in
ophthalmic surgical technologies will be a significant asset as he
leads the effort to identify and evaluate outside technology
opportunities within our strategic focus of lenses that go into the
eye and related delivery systems. This is a new position
which is key in our plans to obtain the rights to innovative
technologies which can add to our growth strategies. There
are some very innovative technologies evolving around the world and
Craig's leadership will allow us to properly evaluate these
opportunities."
About STAAR Surgical
STAAR, which has been dedicated solely to ophthalmic surgery for
over 25 years, designs, develops, manufactures and markets
implantable lenses for the eye. All of these lenses are
foldable, which permits the surgeon to insert them through a small
incision. STAAR's lens used in refractive surgery as an
alternative to LASIK is called an Implantable Collamer® Lens or
"ICL." A lens used to replace the natural lens after cataract
surgery is called an intraocular lens or "IOL." Over 300,000
Visian ICLs have been implanted to date; to learn more about the
ICL go to: www.visianinfo.com. STAAR has approximately 300
full time employees and markets lenses in approximately 60
countries. Headquartered in Monrovia, CA, it manufactures in the following
locations: Nidau, Switzerland;
Ichikawa City, Japan; Aliso Viejo, CA; and Monrovia, CA. For more information,
please visit the Company's website at www.staar.com or call
626-303-7902.
Collamer® is the registered trademark for STAAR's proprietary
biocompatible collagen copolymer lens material.
CONTACT:
|
Investors
|
Media
|
|
EVC
Group
|
EVC
Group
|
|
Douglas
Sherk, 415-652-9100
|
Chris
Gale
|
|
Jenifer
Kirtland, 415-568-9349
|
646-201-5431
|
SOURCE STAAR Surgical Company