SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PolarityTE, Inc. (Nasdaq: COOL), a commercial-stage biotechnology and regenerative biomaterials company focused on transforming the lives of patients by discovering, designing and developing a range of regenerative tissue products for the fields of medicine, biomedical engineering and material sciences, today announced the addition of Ramses (Rainer) Erdtmann and David Seaburg to the Board of Directors. Mr. Erdtmann is a Managing Partner at Point Sur Investors, a biotech investment fund focused on innovative therapies. Mr. Erdtmann previously worked at Pharmacyclics from 2008 through 2015 and remained with AbbVie as a consultant until 2016 post the acquisition of Pharmacyclics by AbbVie. Mr. Seaburg is a Managing Director at Cowen, Inc. and a CNBC contributor, regularly commenting on the financial prospects of companies and interacting with management teams and institutional investors.
Mr. Erdtmann is replacing Ned Swanson, MD, Chief Operating Officer, as a member of the Board of Directors. With the addition of Mr. Erdtmann and Mr. Seaburg to the Board of Directors, PolarityTE increases the number of Directors from seven to eight, with six of the Board’s Directors being independent. Dr. Swanson remains the Chief Operating Officer and PolarityTE thanks him for his contributions to the Board since the formation of the Company.
During his time at Pharmacyclics, Mr. Erdtmann witnessed and helped grow Pharmacyclics from 47 employees and a market cap of $20 Million, to 634 employees and a market cap of $21 Billion. Mr. Erdtmann oversaw several departments and helped Pharmacyclics evolve into a fully integrated biotech company. He held a number of roles and, at various times, also had responsibility for Accounting, SEC Reporting, Audits, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. He worked closely with the CEO and the Audit and Compensation Committee. Mr. Erdtmann actively participated in the final execution of key corporate milestones for Pharmacyclics, including the Collaboration Agreement with Johnson & Johnson in 2011 and the Merger Agreement with AbbVie in 2015.
Mr. Seaburg is a Managing Director and Head of Sales Trading at Cowen, a leading healthcare franchise in equities research, sales and trading and investment banking. Over the course of his more than 20 year career at Cowen in both Equity Sales Trading and Trading, Mr. Seaburg has advanced to increasingly senior roles at the firm. In 2006, Mr. Seaburg was named Head of Sales Trading and appointed to the firm’s Equity Operating Committee. In his role at Cowen, Mr. Seaburg has interacted with thousands of healthcare investors and company management teams. Mr. Seaburg is a CNBC Fast Money Contributor and provides regular on-air market commentary for the network.
Denver Lough, CEO of PolarityTE said, “We are very pleased to have Mr. Erdtmann and Mr. Seaburg join the Board of Directors at this important stage in our development. Ramses’ operational experience at Pharmacyclics during its transition into a multi-billion dollar commercial biotech company and David’s investment expertise, long tenure at Cowen, and experience with healthcare management teams will be tremendously valuable as PolarityTE continues to execute on the business.”
Ramses Erdtmann commented, “PolarityTE’s products are truly transformational and life changing to many patients. I believe the company’s mission and purpose are very important to the field of regenerative medicine. The team has made incredible advances to date and it is my honor join the board of directors, leverage my experience and support PolarityTE in achieving its long-term goals and potentials.”
Mr. Seaburg commented, “I’m honored to join PolarityTE’s Board and am convinced the proprietary technology being developed has real potential to change the paradigm of tissue regeneration, from skin wound care to various other tissues and organs. There are not many opportunities to be part of a company with a platform technology that has the potential to revolutionize medicine, and I’m eager to play an active role in this important process for PolarityTE.”
About PolarityTE™
PolarityTE is a commercial-stage biotechnology and regenerative biomaterials company focused on transforming the lives of patients by discovering, designing and developing a range of regenerative tissue products and biomaterials for the fields of medicine, biomedical engineering and material sciences. The PolarityTE platform technology begins with a small piece of the patient’s own, or autologous, healthy tissue, rather than artificially manipulated individual cells. From this small piece of healthy autologous tissue, the company creates an easily deployable, dynamic and self-propagating product designed to enhance and stimulate the patient’s own cells to regenerate the target tissues. Rather than manufacturing with synthetic and foreign materials within artificially engineered environments, PolarityTE manufactures with the patient’s own tissue and uses the patient’s own body to support the regenerative process to create the same tissue from which it was derived. PolarityTE’s innovative method is intended to promote and accelerate growth of the patient’s tissues to undergo a form of effective regenerative healing.
About SkinTE™
SkinTE is intended to be used by physicians or other appropriate healthcare providers for homologous uses of skin tissues/integument. Patients who have suffered from an event, disease, process or acquired deficit that results in the functional loss or void of skin/integument systems can receive SkinTE as an adjunct and/or in place of split-thickness skin grafting, full-thickness grafting, temporizing skin coverage and/or skin substitute products.
SkinTE is for autologous use only. Aseptic technique during harvest and deployment of SkinTE is mandatory.
SkinTE is regulated by the FDA as an HCT/P solely under Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act and 21 CFR 1271. The FDA has specific regulations governing HCT/Ps. HCT/Ps that meet the criteria for regulation solely under Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act and 21 CFR 1271 (361 HCT/Ps) are not subject to pre-market clearance or approval requirements, but are subject to post-market regulatory requirements.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. They are generally identified by words such as “believes,” “may,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “would,” “should” and similar expressions. Readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are based upon the Company’s beliefs and assumptions as of the date of this release. The Company’s actual results could differ materially due to risk factors and other items described in more detail in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s Annual Reports and other filings with the SEC (copies of which may be obtained at www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law. Our actual results could differ materially due to risk factors and other items described in more detail in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s Annual Reports and other filings with the SEC (copies of which may be obtained at www.sec.gov).
POLARITYTE, the POLARITYTE logo, and SKINTE are trademarks or registered trademarks of PolarityTE, Inc.
CONTACTS:
Investors:
Rich Haerle
PolarityTE, Inc.
ir@PolarityTE.com
(385) 831-5284
Hans Vitzthum
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
Hans@LifeSciAdvisors.com
(617) 535-7743
Media:
David Schull
Russo Partners LLC
David.Schull@RussoPartnersLLC.com
(858) 717-2310