Midmark names new VP, corporate strategy
Midmark Corp. (Dayton, OH) announced Beth Walters was promoted to VP, corporate strategy.
In this new role, Walters will be responsible for leading the development and maintenance of Midmark’s corporate strategy while collaborating to ensure alignment of functional strategies across all three of Midmark’s business units – medical, dental and animal health.
She will also be responsible for leading the organization to embrace new business areas and ensure the successful integration of these areas into core business processes.
Since joining Midmark in December 2014, Walters has led a series of strategic implementations for the company. She led the renewal of Midmark’s corporate strategy in 2016, as well as led cross-functional teams to design and recommend the path forward in the areas of customer education and digital transformation.
Owens & Minor elects Mark Beck as chair of the board of directors
Owens & Minor, Inc. (Richmond, VA) announced the implementation of a succession plan within its board of directors. Mark Beck was elected by the board to succeed Robert Sledd as chair of the board, effective September 22. Beck, who currently serves as CEO of B-Square Precision, LLC and previously held executive positions with JELD-WEN Holdings, Inc., Danaher Corporation, and Corning Incorporation, has been an independent director of the company since August 2019.
Sledd has been a director since 2007 and board chair since 2018, and served as interim CEO & president of the company from November 2018 until March 2019. He will remain on the board of directors for the remainder of his current term, which culminates with the company’s 2021 annual meeting of shareholders.
Thermo Fisher opens new Bioprocessing Collaboration Center
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Waltham, MA) announced the opening of its new Bioprocessing Collaboration Center (BCC) in St. Louis, Missouri. The facility is adjacent to the company’s biologics manufacturing facility, which recently doubled production capacity with a $50 million expansion. The company say that the combined expertise from Thermo Fisher’s bioproduction and pharma services businesses will accelerate innovation and enhance productivity for biopharma companies, enabling them to meet the growing need for more flexible, scalable biologics development and manufacturing solutions.
“The BCC will bring together the company’s leadership in GMP biologics manufacturing with its deep expertise in bioprocessing technologies including bioreactors, cell culture media, chromatography and analytical tools, among others. This collaboration will deliver new single-use bioprocessing technologies as well as drive critical process, data management and quality improvements that enable scale-up solutions for biopharma customers,” Thermo Fisher said.
Sheri Edison joins Cardinal Health board of directors
Cardinal Health (Dublin, OH) announced that its board of directors elected Sheri Edison as an independent director, effective September 1. Edison joins the board with extensive experience as a senior legal executive in the medical device and packaging industries. Edison currently is EVP and general counsel for Amcor plc, a global leader in packaging for products spanning the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal care sectors, with approximately 50,000 employees across more than 40 countries. She previously held the role of SVP, chief administrative officer of the medical device company Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc.
BD donates $1M to support launch of world’s largest NGO hospital ship
BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (Franklin Lakes, NJ) is celebrating its 25 year of philanthropic partnership with the global nonprofit, Mercy Ships, by announcing its donation of $1 million in cash and product to support the construction and launch of the world’s largest non-governmental organization (NGO) hospital ship, which plans to sail to Africa in late 2021 under the name, Global Mercy.
Over the course of the 25-year partnership, BD has donated more than $1.5 million in cash and products to support Mercy Ships in its charitable mission of providing free surgical care to those in need. Today’s announcement brings BD’s total philanthropic investment in Mercy Ships to $2.5 million.
The organization’s new, custom-built hospital ship, Global Mercy, features six operating rooms, state-of-the-art technology, the highly-trained medical talent of a modern hospital, and the capacity to house more than 600 volunteers.
Medtronic to acquire Avenu Medical
Medtronic plc (Dublin, Ireland) announced the planned acquisition of Avenu Medical (San Juan Capistrano, CA), a privately held medical device company focused on the endovascular (minimally invasive) creation of arteriovenous (AV) fistulae for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing dialysis.
Avenu Medical’s Ellipsys Vascular Access System is a single-catheter, ultrasound-guided device that inserts a catheter percutaneously (through the skin) into the arm to create a durable AV fistula. The procedure can be performed in the hospital outpatient department, ambulatory surgery center (ASC), or physician’s office.
The Ellipsys Vascular Access System has been approved by the FDA and is CE Marked for distribution in the European Union. It is indicated in both geographies for the creation of a proximal radial artery to perforating vein anastomosis for percutaneous creation of an AV fistula.