THOROFARE, N.J., Nov. 23, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akers Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKER) (AIM:AKR.L), ("Akers Bio" or the "Company"), a medical device company focused on reducing the cost of healthcare through faster, easier diagnostics, is pleased to announce the appointment of John J. Gormally as Chief Executive Officer.
John joins Akers Bio following a highly successful career - spanning over 30 years - with the global medical technology company Becton Dickinson. His most recent position with Becton Dickinson was as Vice President, US Region Business Leader of Preanalytical Systems with responsibility for the sample collection, venous access and the molecular diagnostic business platforms. John helped successfully grow annual business revenues by more than $80 million in a business unit that contributed annual revenues of over $650 million. He led a multi-functional team of 92 associates including sales, marketing and finance teams.
Prior to this role, John was Vice President, Worldwide Sales of Preanalytical Systems, leading a global sales function with 256 associates and annual revenues of $1.1 billion. During his five years John contributed to revenue growth of $242 million in both product volume and price – a period of record growth in revenue and profitability for the business unit.
Before joining Preanalytical Systems, John held the position of Vice President BD Diabetes Care with responsibility for the US sale and distribution of diabetes care products and services and, in particular, for launching a product for blood glucose monitoring. John created and implemented a market strategy for the test, including making the sales force accountable for superior results. He successfully led a team of 57 associates with annual revenues of $331 million. John exceeded revenue budgets with annual sales growth of 8.4%.
John first joined Becton Dickinson in 1979 and climbed the sales and management ranks over twenty years within the Medical Surgical, Microbiology/Diagnostics and then Healthcare Systems divisions. John left Becton Dickinson in 1999, for several years, to pursue an opportunity with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, a global biopharmaceutical business which develops, licenses, manufactures, markets and sells pharmaceutical and nutritional products. There he was accountable for a sales force/operations team of 226, with $450 million in annual revenue.
He later joined BEI Medical Systems, a medical device start up, as Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing. John developed a highly successful commercial strategy and, from a zero base, established a profitable business which was sold two years later, in 2003, to Boston Scientific for $95 million (or 33 times earnings). Following the sale, John was recruited back to Beckton Dickinson.
John graduated with a B.S. Biology from DeSales University, PA in 1978.
"John has highly relevant experience to lead the commercialisation strategy at Akers Bio," said Raymond F. Akers, Jr. PhD, Co-founder and Executive Chairman. "His expertise is in commercial strategy design and execution. John has achieved tremendous success both in leading Becton Dickinson business units and in a smaller, early stage medical device business," continued Dr. Akers.
"From an early stage in his career, John spent considerable time selling directly to hospitals and hospital reference laboratories, which are key customers for Akers Bio. He has tremendous experience of developing sales strategies, leading direct sales teams and managing relationships with distributors – including those with whom Akers Bio already has relationships. These are all key attributes for leading the commercial function at Akers Bio as we seek to accelerate the domestic sales of our flagship test for Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia and to launch new products into the market, including within the valuable health and wellness area," added Dr. Akers.
About Akers Biosciences, Inc.
Akers Biosciences develops, manufactures, and supplies rapid screening and testing products designed to deliver quicker and more cost-effective healthcare information to healthcare providers and consumers. The Company has advanced the science of diagnostics while responding to major shifts in healthcare through the development of several proprietary platform technologies. The Company's state-of-the-art rapid diagnostic assays can be performed virtually anywhere in minutes when time is of the essence. The Company has aligned with major healthcare companies and high volume medical product distributors to maximize product offerings, and to be a major worldwide competitor in diagnostics.
Additional information on the Company and its products can be found at www.akersbio.com. Follow us on Twitter @AkersBio.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
Statements contained herein that are not based upon current or historical fact are forward-looking in nature and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's expectations about its future operating results, performance and opportunities that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. These statements include but are not limited to statements regarding the intended terms of the offering, closing of the offering and use of any proceeds from the offering. When used herein, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "upcoming," "plan," "target", "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to Akers Biosciences, Inc., its subsidiaries, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements.