Veran Medical
Sep 09, 2008
ST. LOUIS, MO September 9, 2008 – Veran Medical Technologies, developer of the novel SPiN IR™ four-dimensional navigated delivery system for the diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment of early stage lung disease, today announced that J. Robert Paulson, Jr. has joined its Board of Directors.
“Bob Paulson brings a wealth of medical device operating, market development, and business development experience to the Veran Medical Board of Directors,” said Jerome Edwards, President and CEO of Veran. Most recently, Paulson served as President and CEO of Restore Medical, Inc., where he led the company through the commercialization of its Pillar implant technology, its initial public offering, and its subsequent sale to Medtronic, Inc. Previously, Bob served as the Chief Financial Officer and VP Marketing of Endocardial Solutions, Inc., and was instrumental in the global commercialization of the EnSite cardiac arrhythmia mapping and navigation technology and the company’s acquisition by St. Jude Medical in 2005. Bob was the Sr. VP and General Manager of the Auditory Division of Advanced Bionics and previously worked closely with several members of the Veran leadership team while serving as the VP General Manager of Medtronic’s Surgical Navigation business unit. While at Medtronic, Bob also served as a Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Planning, and Director of Corporate Development.
Edwards continued, “We are excited to be re-united with Bob and have him join us in our mission to significantly improve the diagnosis and delivery of minimally invasive therapy to treat cancer. Bob’s knowledge and operating experience in the development of several medical markets is an important addition to our
Veran is a privately held medical device company headquartered in St. Louis, MO. The company’s mission is to empower physicians to diagnose cancer earlier and to enable precision therapy to save lives. In the United States, lung cancer kills more people each year than breast, prostate, pancreatic and colon cancers combined.
Veran has developed and commercialized an FDA cleared, next generation electromagnetic thoracic navigation platform called the SPiN Thoracic Navigation System®. Veran’s breakthrough technology has been adopted by leading cancer centers throughout the United States. Veran provides physicians with a full line of bronchoscopic brushes, needles, forceps and steerable catheters with tiny electromagnetic sensors embedded in the tips for precise navigation. The combination of these proprietary Always-On Tip Tracked® instruments and Veran’s exclusive patient respiratory gating technology enables physicians to accurately access lung nodules by accounting for nodule movement during patient breathing, a common challenge for lung specialists.
Another challenge lung specialists face is that approximately 40% of lung nodules lie outside of an airway, making them very difficult to reach endobronchially, and traditionally requiring an additional procedure. Veran’s SPiN Thoracic Navigation System® is the first and only FDA cleared technology that enables Pulmonologists or Thoracic Surgeons to safely and accurately access lung nodules outside of an airway using SPiN Perc®, a navigated transthoracic needle. With SPiN Perc®, Veran combines endobronchial navigation with percutaneous navigation, allowing physicians to access all lung nodules in a single procedure, regardless of nodule size or location. This eliminates the cost and risk of unnecessary procedures and empowers physicians to provide a same day diagnosis for their patients. The early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer has been proven to save lives.