Arbios Appoints Dennis Kogod and Thomas M. Tully to the Board of Directors
May 18 2005 - 11:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Arbios Appoints Dennis Kogod and Thomas M. Tully to the Board of
Directors LOS ANGELES, May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arbios
Systems, Inc. (OTC:ABOS) a biomedical device company developing
proprietary liver assist devices for the treatment of liver
failure, announced today that the Company has appointed Dennis
Kogod and Thomas M. Tully to its Board of Directors. The additions
of Mssrs. Kogod and Tully bring Arbios' Board to nine members. Mr.
Kogod is currently President and Chief Operating Officer of the
West Division of Gambro Healthcare USA (a subsidiary of Gambro,
Inc.), a healthcare service provider that owns and operates chronic
renal dialysis clinics and peritoneal dialysis programs, and
provides acute dialysis services to hospitals. Gambro is currently
one of the three largest dialysis providers in the United States.
Mr. Kogod joined Gambro Healthcare USA in July 2000 as a Division
President, and became its President and Chief Operating Officer in
January 2004. In December 2004, Gambro Healthcare USA entered into
an agreement to divest its US clinics business to DaVita, a leading
provider of dialysis services for patients suffering from chronic
kidney failure. Upon consummation of this transaction, Mr. Kogod
will join the DaVita senior management team. Before joining Gambro
Healthcare USA, from July 1987 to July 2000, Mr. Kogod was employed
with Teleflex Corporation, a NYSE-listed company, where, from
December 1999 to July 2000, he served as Division President of the
Teleflex Medical Group, a global supplier of medical devices,
surgical instruments and disposable medical products. Prior to his
appointment as Division President for the Medical Device OEM
Division, Mr. Kogod served as Corporate Vice President, overseeing
operations in Asia Pacific, Central and South America and Canada.
During his 13 years at Teleflex, Mr. Kogod spent nine years
focusing on Sales and Marketing of Surgical Products, Devices and
Services in the US. Mr. Kogod received his business degree from the
University of Florida, and has also completed a number of Sales and
Management Executive programs. Mr. Tully brings to Arbios more than
30 years of senior level management experience in the medical
products business, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices,
consumer products and biotechnology. Mr. Tully was, until his
recent retirement, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Neothermia Corporation, a privately held medical device company
developing minimally invasive devices for use in cancer biopsy and
tumor removal procedures. From June 1995 to April 2000 Mr. Tully
was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nitinol Medical
Technologies, Inc., a publicly held medical device company which
develops and markets minimally invasive medical devices for the
treatment of patients who have cardiac sources of embolic stroke.
Prior to that, Mr. Tully served as President of publicly held
Organogenesis Inc., from 1991 to 1994, and as the President of
Schnieder (USA) Inc. from 1988 to 1991. From 1983 through 1988, Mr.
Tully held various positions with Johnson & Johnson, including
President, Johnson & Johnson Interventional Systems and Vice
President Marketing and Sales. Mr. Tully received his Bachelor of
Arts degree from Michigan State University. Commenting on these
latest appointments, Amy Factor, Chief Executive Officer of Arbios,
stated, "We are delighted to welcome Dennis and Tom to the Arbios
board. Dennis' deep experience in the dialysis market, and Tom's
expertise in the management of medical device companies,
particularly in the area of marketing and sales, are highly
complementary. The invaluable industry expertise these gentleman
bring to Arbios, and their backgrounds, contacts and counsel, will
be extremely beneficial to the Company as we move forward with the
development and eventual marketing and commercialization of our
proprietary liver assist devices." Arbios Systems, Inc. is a
biomedical device company that, through its wholly-owned
subsidiary, Arbios Technologies, Inc., is engaged in the discovery,
acquisition and development of proprietary liver assist devices and
new technologies useful in the diagnosis and treatment of acute
liver failure. Arbios' products in development include SEPET(TM), a
novel blood purification therapy and HepatAssist-2(TM), a
bioartificial liver combining liver cell therapy and sorbent-based
detoxification. This press release contains forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual events or results to differ materially from the events or
results described in the forward-looking statements, including
risks or uncertainties related to obtaining clinical site
approvals, manufacturing SEPET(TM) cartridges, enrolling patients,
compliance with regulatory requirement, the results of the clinical
tests to be conducted by the company, the need for subsequent
substantial additional financing to complete clinical development
of its products, and Arbios' ability to successfully market its
products and technologies. These statements represent the judgment
of Arbios' management as of this date and are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could materially affect the company. The company
does not undertake any obligation to publicly release the result of
any revisions to such forward-looking statements that may be made
to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. SEPET(TM) and
HepatAssist-2(TM) are trademarks of Arbios Technologies, Inc., the
subsidiary of Arbios Systems, Inc. DATASOURCE: Arbios Systems, Inc.
CONTACT: Amy Factor, Chief Executive Officer of Arbios,
+1-973-377-7665, or ; or Paula Schwartz (Investors)
+1-917-322-2216, or Pat Garrison (Media) +1-917-322-2567, both of
RX Communications Group, for Arbios Systems, Inc. Web site:
http://www.arbios.com/
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